Art and music, blackbird

 

Painting;Black Bird Marina Petro

 The weather has been so much better this week. I’m able to sit out in the garden again and watch the birds feeding from my bird feeders. I am amazed at the number and variety of birds this tiny feeding station attracts. Early this morning my garden seemed to be overrun with blackbirds but since then all sorts of different birds have visited.

The Blackbird
by Lord Alfred Tennyson

Painting; Black and Gold, November Blackbird Richard Allen

O blackbird! sing me something well:
  While all the neighbors shoot thee round,
  I keep smooth plats of fruitful ground,
Where thou mayst warble, eat, and dwell.

The espaliers and the standards all
  Are thine; the range of lawn and park;
  The unnetted black-hearts ripen dark,
All thine, against the garden wall.

Yet, tho’ I spared thee all the spring,
  Thy sole delight is, sitting still,
  With that gold dagger of thy bill
To fret the summer jenneting.

A golden bill! ths silver tongue,
  Cold February loved, is dry;
  Plenty corrupts the melody
That made thee famous once when young;

And in the sultry garden-squares,
  Now thy flute-notes are changed to coarse,
  I hear thee not at all, or hoarse
As when a hawker hawks his wares.

Take warning! he that will not sing
  While yon sun prospers in the blue,
  Shall sing for want, ere leaves are new,
Caught in the frozen palms of Spring.

Painting;
The field of blackbirds  Zorka Perovic

Beatles;  Blackbird singing
Cat Stevens; Morning has broken



 

delete reply brendainmad wrote on Sep 12, '09 When I saw blackbird, I immediately thought of the Beatles song. I'm happy you had lots of visitors and that your weather's been nice. I'll have to say it's been beautiful here in Ohio.

delete reply pestep55 wrote on Sep 12, '09 Nicely woven together /:-)

delete reply veryfrank wrote on Sep 12, '09 Nice Loretta, I really do like the poem. Very nice posting. I understand that there are over 30 species of blackbirds around the world, some with red, grey or yellow colorings. Crows have grey/silver colorings also, there is a hooded crow that is black and grey. The Grackle that Bennett mentioned is native to the Americas.

delete reply starfishred wrote on Sep 12, '09 very nice loretta- our weather has been wonderful this week to but now it is cloudy today and 21C

edit delete reply forgetmenot525 wrote on Sep 12, '09 bennett1 said Many mistake crows and blackbirds true....................I've never been certain of the difference between crows, ravens, or blackbirds, except that I think blackbirds are smaller and have less hawklike beaks. And which are the ones with the grey /silver 'hoods'??

delete reply bennett1 wrote on Sep 12, '09 Very nice Loretta. The poem suggests people shot black birds once and I suppose they do now, which is sad. Many mistake crows and blackbirds and there are birds that are black (grackles, e.g.) that are not blackbirds. I like the pictures and the poem very much.