MADHU MALTI

Mocking Bird Poems : Various Poets : : Bird Poems : :

The Mocking Bird : Some live Pictures. : : Harper Lee’s novel “To Kill a Mockingbird”. ( 1960 ) Its Early review in Time was called “tactile brilliance”. The novel uses the metaphor of killing a mockingbird to symbolize the destruction of innocence. In the story, the mockingbird represents characters who are innocent and do no harm, but are harmed or killed nonetheless. The story is a comment on the injustice and cruelty present in the society depicted in the novel. . In the United States, this Novel is widely read in high schools and middle schools. it won the Pulitzer Prize. : : : : ***The plot and characters*** are loosely based on Lee’s observations of her family, her neighbors and an event that occurred near her hometown of Monroeville, Alabama, in 1936, when she was ten.The story, told by Jean Louise Finch, takes place during three years (1933–35) of the Great Depression in the fictional town of Maycomb, Alabama, the seat of Maycomb County. Nicknamed Scout, the narrator, who is six years old at the beginning of the book, lives with her older brother Jeremy, nicknamed Jem, and their widowed father Atticus, a middle-aged lawyer. They also have a black cook, Calpurnia, who has been with the family for many years and helps Atticus raise the two children.

Jem and Scout befriend a boy named Dill, who visits Maycomb to stay with his aunt each summer. The three children are terrified, yet fascinated, by their neighbor, the reclusive Arthur “Boo” Radley. The adults of Maycomb are hesitant to talk about Boo, and many of them have not seen him for many years. The children feed one another’s imagination with rumors about his appearance and reasons for remaining hidden, and they fantasize about how to get him out of his house. After two summers of friendship with Dill, Scout and Jem find that someone is leaving them small gifts in a tree outside the Radley place. Several times the mysterious Boo makes gestures of affection to the children, but, to their disappointment, he never appears in person.

Judge Taylor appoints Atticus to defend Tom Robinson, a black man who has been accused of raping a young white woman, Mayella Ewell. Although many of Maycomb’s citizens disapprove, Atticus agrees to defend Tom to the best of his ability. Other children taunt Jem and Scout for Atticus’s actions, calling him a “nigger-lover”. Scout is tempted to stand up for her father’s honor by fighting, even though he has told her not to. One night, Atticus faces a group of men intent on lynching Tom. Scout, Jem, and Dill unexpectedly show up, and Scout inadvertently breaks the mob mentality by recognizing and talking to a classmate’s father, causing the would-be lynchers to disperse.

Atticus does not want Jem and Scout to be present at Tom Robinson’s trial. No seat is available on the main floor, but the Rev. Sykes, the pastor of Calpurnia’s church, invites Jem, Scout and Dill to watch from the colored balcony. Atticus establishes that Mayella Ewell and her father, Bob, are lying. It is revealed that Mayella made sexual advances toward Tom, resulting in her being beaten by her father. The townspeople refer to the Ewells as “white trash” who are not to be trusted, but the jury convicts Tom regardless. Jem’s faith in justice is badly shaken. Atticus is hopeful that he can get the verdict overturned, but Tom is shot and killed while trying to escape from prison.

Despite Tom’s conviction, Bob Ewell is humiliated by the events of the trial. Atticus explains that he destroyed Ewell’s last shred of credibility. Ewell vows revenge, spitting in Atticus’ face, trying to break into the judge’s house and menacing Tom Robinson’s widow. Finally, he attacks Jem and Scout while they are walking home on a dark night after the school Halloween pageant. Jem suffers a broken arm and is knocked unconscious in the struggle, but amid the confusion, someone comes to the children’s rescue. The mysterious man carries Jem home, where Scout realizes that he is Boo Radley.

Sheriff Tate arrives and discovers Ewell dead from a knife wound. Atticus believes that Jem was responsible, but Tate is certain it was Boo. The sheriff tells Atticus that, to protect Boo’s privacy, he will report that Ewell simply fell on his own knife during the attack. Boo asks Scout to walk him home. After she says goodbye to him at his front door, he disappears, never to be seen again by Scout. While standing on the Radley porch, Scout imagines life from Boo’s perspective. : : : : : : The racial injustice appears symbolically in the novel as wellAtticus must shoot a rabid dog, even though it is not his job to do so.Carolyn Jones argues that the dog represents prejudice within the town of Maycomb, and Atticus, who waits on a deserted street to shoot the dog, must fight against the town’s racism without help from other white citizens. He is also alone when he faces a group intending to lynch Tom Robinson and once more in the courthouse during Tom’s trial. Lee even uses dreamlike imagery from the mad dog incident to describe some of the courtroom scenes. Jones writes, “[t]he real mad dog in Maycomb is the racism that denies the humanity of Tom Robinson … When Atticus makes his summation to the jury, he literally bares himself to the jury’s and the town’s anger. : : : : “Songbirds and their associated symbolism appear throughout the novel. Their family name Finch is also Lee’s mother’s maiden name. The titular mockingbird is a key motif of this theme, which first appears when Atticus, having given his children air-rifles for Christmas, allows their Uncle Jack to teach them to shoot. Atticus warns them that, although they can “shoot all the bluejays they want”, they must remember that “it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird”Confused, Scout approaches her neighbor Miss Maudie, who explains that mockingbirds never harm other living creatures. She points out that mockingbirds simply provide pleasure with their songs, saying, “They don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us.” Writer Edwin Bruell summarized the symbolism when he wrote in 1964, “‘To kill a mockingbird’ is to kill that which is innocent and harmless—like Tom Robinson.”[56] Scholars have noted that Lee often returns to the mockingbird theme when trying to make a moral point. : : : : R. A. Dave claims that because every character has to face, or even suffer defeat, the book takes on elements of a classical tragedy. In exploring how each character deals with his or her own personal defeat, Lee builds a framework to judge whether the characters are heroes or fools. She guides the reader in such judgments, alternating between unabashed adoration and biting irony. Scout’s experience with the Missionary Society is an ironic juxtaposition of women who mock her, gossip, and “reflect a smug, colonialist attitude toward other races” while giving the “appearance of gentility, piety, and morality”. Conversely, when Atticus loses Tom’s case, he is last to leave the courtroom, except for his children and the black spectators in the colored balcony, who rise silently as he walks underneath them, to honor his efforts. : : ( The Above information is based on Wikipedia’s Article )

* To a Mocking-Bird : : by Henry Jerome Stockard
The name thou wearest does thee grievous wrong;
No mimic thou: that voice is thine alone.
The poets sing but strains of Shakespeare’s song;
The birds, but notes of thine imperial own.

* * The Mocking-Bird : : by Paul Hamilton Hayne

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A golden pallor of voluptuous light
Filled the warm southern night:
The moon, clear orbed, above the sylvan scene
Moved like a stately queen,
So rife with conscious beauty all the while,
What could she do but smile
At her own perfect loveliness below,
Glassed in the tranquil flow
Of crystal fountains and unruffled streams?
Half lost in waking dreams,
As down the loneliest forest dell I strayed,
Lo! from a neighboring glade,
Flashed through the drifts of moonshine, swiftly came
A fairy shape of flame.
It rose in dazzling spirals overhead,
Whence to wild sweetness wed,
Poured marvellous melodies, silvery trill on trill;
The very leaves grew still
On the charmed trees to hearken; while for me,
Heart-trilled to ecstasy,
I followed—followed the bright shape that flew,
Still circling up the blue,
Till as a fountain that has reached its height,
Falls back in sprays of light
Slowly dissolved, so that enrapturing lay,
Divinely melts away
Through tremulous spaces to a music-mist, Soon by the fitful breeze
How gently kissed
Into remote and tender silences.

* * * The Mocking-Bird : : by Alexander Beaufort Meek

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From the vale, what music ringing,
Fills the bosom of the night;
On the sense, entrancéd, flinging
Spells of witchery and delight!
O’er magnolia, lime and cedar,
From yon locust-top, it swells,
Like the chant of serenader,
Or the rhymes of silver bells!
Listen! dearest, listen to it!
Sweeter sounds were never heard!
‘Tis the song of that wild poet—
Mime and minstrel Mocking—Bird.
See him, swinging in his glory,
On yon topmost bending limb!
Caroling his amorous story,
Like some wild crusader’s hymn!
Now it faints in tones delicious
As the first low vow of love!
Now it bursts in swells capricious,
All the moonlit vale above!
Listen! dearest, etc.
Why is’t thus, this sylvan Petrarch
Pours all night his serenade?
‘Tis for some proud woodland Laura,
His sad sonnets all are made!
But he changes now his measure—
Gladness bubbling from his mouth—
Jest, and gibe, and mimic pleasure—
Winged Anacreon of the South!
Listen! dearest, etc.
Bird of music, wit and gladness,
Troubadour of sunny climes,
Disenchanter of all sadness,—
Would thine art were in my rhymes.
O’er the heart that’s beating by me,
I would weave a spell divine;
Is there aught she could deny me,
Drinking in such strains as thine?
Listen! dearest, etc.

* V : : Lament of a Mocking-Bird : : by Frances Anne Kemble

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Silence instead of thy sweet song, my bird,
Which through the darkness of my winter days
Warbling of summer sunshine still was heard;
Mute is thy song, and vacant is thy place.
The spring comes back again, the fields rejoice,
Carols of gladness ring from every tree;
But I shall hear thy wild triumphant voice
No more: my summer song has died with thee.
What didst thou sing of, O my summer bird?
The broad, bright, brimming river, whose swift sweep
And whirling eddies by the home are heard,
Rushing, resistless, to the calling deep.
What didst thou sing of, thou melodious sprite?
Pine forests, with smooth russet carpets spread,
Where e’en at noonday dimly falls the light,
Through gloomy blue-green branches overhead.
What didst thou sing of, O thou jubilant soul?
Ever-fresh flowers and never-leafless trees,
Bending great ivory cups to the control
Of the soft swaying, orange scented breeze.
What didst thou sing of, thou embodied glee?
The wide wild marshes with their clashing reeds
And topaz-tinted channels, where the sea
Daily its tides of briny freshness leads.
What didst thou sing of, O thou winged voice?
Dark, bronze-leaved oaks, with silver mosses crowned,
Where thy free kindred live, love, and rejoice,
With wreaths of golden jasmine curtained round.
These didst thou sing of, spirit of delight!
From thy own radiant sky, thou quivering spark!
These thy sweet southern dreams of warmth and light,
Through the grim northern winter drear and dark.

V * : : Mocking Bird : : By David Wagoner : :

**“Mocking Bird” By David Wagoner : : From The Poetry Magazine , May 1985 Issue : Source : poetryfoundation.org : For Educational Purposes only.**

V * * : : The Mocking Bird : : By Harriet Monroe

**“The Mocking Bird”By Harriet Monroe : : From The Poetry Magazine :April 1918 issue : : For Educational Purposes only : Sorce : poetryfoundation.org :**

V * * * [Poem written by Mocking bird Tobe to his mate Florence] : : One of 1,686 poems in the series: Charles B. Moore Family papers, 1832-1917 available on site texashistory.unt.edu : For Educational Purposes only.

* X : : Zion : Vernacular Exposure : Mocking Bird Song : : By R T Smith : : From poetryfoundation.org : For Educational Purposes only.

X : : Pending.. . .. .

“The Mocking Bird By Various Poets, Information Appreciation and poem Analysis Presented by V Jayaraj Pune India December 11, 2023 : : : : : : : :

**A color photograph of a northern mockingbird**
**HarperLee used the mockingbird to symbolize innocence in the novel : ” To Kill A Mockingbird”**

**Harper Lee ( Nelle Harper Lee , April 28, 1926**
**Monroeville, Alabama , U. S. — February 19, 2016 , (aged 89)** , **Monroeville, Alabama , U S. Notable works**
To Kill a Mockingbird (1960) & Go Set a Watchman (2015) : Harper Lee was portrayed by Catherine Keener in the film Capote (2005), by Sandra Bullock in the film Infamous (2006), and by Tracey Hoyt in the TV movie Scandalous Me: The Jacqueline Susann Story (1998)

The Mocking-Bird and The Donkey : : Bird Poems : :

The Mocking-Bird and the Donkey : : by William Cullen Bryant. From the Spanish of the Mexican poet José Rosas.

▼
A mock-bird in a village
Had somehow gained the skill
To imitate the voices
Of animals at will.
And singing in his prison,
Once, at the close of day,
He gave, with great precision,
The donkey’s heavy bray.
Well pleased, the mock-bird’s master
Sent to the neighbors ’round,
And bade them come together
To hear that curious sound.
They came, and all were talking
In praise of what they heard,
And one delighted lady
Would fain have bought the bird.
A donkey listened sadly,
And said: “Confess I must
That these are shallow people,
And terribly unjust.
“I’m bigger than the mock-bird,
And better bray than he,
Yet not a soul has uttered
A word in praise of me.”

“The Mocking Bird And The Donkey”, A Bird Poem By William Cullen Bryant is more aptly an Animal Poem About “The Donkey”and a Mock -Bird. The Poem for imitation creates the unique emotional situation that wins a reader’s heart delightedly as in the last lines of the poem , said by the donkey, “I’m bigger than the mock-bird,
And better bray than he,
Yet not a soul has uttered
A word in praise of me.” : : The Mocking Bird who mimicked the “curious heavy”sound of “Bray”with great precision that could win the praise of the gathering of the villagers for this imitation. They “bid”, that is , all attained the Mock-Bird’s show seriously. And “one delighted Lady among them bought the Mock -Bird in fainness” /inclined with pleasure to have bought” the Bird. : : : : Do you believe !? in what the donkey expressed in his sad reaction to the aforesaid story, “these are shallow people,
And terribly unjust.”

“Bray” or braying ‘hee- haw’is a natural characteristic of an ass / 🐴 donkey who makes such loud sound in his / her states of crying 😭 in sadness or insecurity , as well as laughing ( say while eating ) in happiness. The harshness involves in both the states of braying of which the donkey 🐴 of the village bigger than barely a foot – long small , caged ( imprisoned ) Mock -Bird in our story / fable, complains the readers that nobody has uttered a word in praise of his braying which might be better than the Mock -Bird.

A delighted Lady and the great Villagers have a worldly attitude and pleasure in enjoying the mimicry of the braying of the donkey , the four footer made an another name of proverbial stupidity. The sad donkey in the above poem, has not sought any false pride in his braying. Yet (s)he is sure that his/her is the better than a bird , and original one. The Poet Speaker has not given any contrasted descriptions of the two sounds. While imitating a braying sound,The Mocking Bird does not have intended to make a spoof of donkey. Braying would not be a soft creamy candy that he should have liked. Yet, it is in nature of human race . Our students/youth in great learning parodies their teachers / professors / elders. Likewise, the politicians and journalists with a view to nearing top , that is the Topmost stature, ridicule one another by tweeting / addressing their opponents with lampooning remarks. They should refrain from such parodies as they do not gain respect because this is an unthinkable , futile attempt to reach any better stage of achievement or impressiveness. The hee – haw laughing sound of neighing horses ( horse laugh ), or haw haw of the dogs are not regarded as satirical issues. Let us not become a coldhearted Heroes lacking in warmth, sympathy and feelings besides our fondness for some preferences.

“The Mocking-Bird and the Donkey”A Bird Poem by William Cullen Bryant Information Appreciation and poem Analysis Presented by V Jayaraj Pune India December 10, 2023 : : : : : : : :

The First Mockingbird in Spring : Paul Hamilton Hayne : : Bird Poems : :

The First Mockingbird in Spring : : by Paul Hamilton Hayne

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Winged poet of vernal ethers!
Ah! where hast thou lingered long?
I have missed thy passionate, skyward flights
And the trills of thy changeful song.
Hast thou been in the hearts of woodlands old,
Half dreaming, and, drowsed by the winter’s cold,
Just crooning the ghost of thy springtide lay
To the listless shadows, benumbed and gray?
Or hast thou strayed by a tropic shore,
And lavished, O sylvan troubadour!
The boundless wealth of thy music free
On the dimpling waves of the Southland sea?
What matter? Thou comest with magic strain,
To the morning haunts of thy life again,
And thy melodies fall in a rhythmic rain.

“The First Mocking Bird In Spring”,A Bird Poem by Paul Hemilton Hayne is About The appreciation of The Poet- Singer, The Mocking Bird , his poetic ability and characteristics such as youthful for his age occurred in Spring, skyward flight and the “trills of changeful songs”; his soft singing in low and sentimental manner from folk songs to popular known Warbler’s songs, and his own original songs in soft , on full moonlight nights. The aforesaid performing shows of the Mocking Bird’s “melodious singing” lasts day and night, throughout the Springtime and further “fall in”, Literally, and Metaphorically break down to a “rhythmic rain.”

“The First Mocking Bird in Spring”, A Bird Poem By Paul Hemilton Hayne Information Appreciation and poem Analysis Presented by V Jayaraj Pune India December 9, 2023 : : : : : : : :

The Mocking Bird : Edwin B McElfatrick : : Bird Poems : :

Eating Toyon berries. Note two wing bars and a slightly decurved bill. Photo by DeAnne Tucker.Northern Mockingbird may have been one of the first White House pets. “Dick the Mockingbird”, as it was named, was adored by Thomas Jefferson.

**Northern Mocking- Bird ( Mimus polyglottos ): bold white wing spots and white outer tail feathers. Photo by Sonny Mencher**

**Stern looking Mocking Bird in Autumnal change in Season.**

**The Mocking Bird in December. Photo by Mike Powell.**

**The Mocking Bird in Snowy Winter time.**

The Mockingbird : : by Edwin B. McElfatrick

▼
You hear him in the springtime
When radiant sunlight fills
The verdant, sweeping valleys
And the hollows of the hills;
On moonlight nights in summer
From the summit of a tree,
He is weaving strains entrancing
In flights of ecstasy.
In autumn’s richest splendor
When the woodland seems afire
I have heard him chanting softly
From a fence of old barbed wire;
In dreary, bleak December
Where the ragged cedars spread
I have seen him gray, and sullen,
And silent as the dead.

“The Mocking Bird”, A Bird Poem by Edwin B McElfatrick is About hearing this Songbird firstly, during the radiant daylight and on moonlight nights in summer’s Springtime When “from the summit of a tree”/ The Mocking Bird is “weaving strains” that is in captivating the male to attract his love with his creation calls for which he has to compete with other male birds. This also fills ecstasy In his flights. Secondly, The Poet Speaker has “heard him chanting softly In the “Riches splendor of Autumn” When “the woodland seems afire” , that’s is, the dried vivid leaves and twigs of the trees in forest and dying shrubs set “afire” by lighting or catching fire. Lastly , However in the ending time of the year The Mocking Bird comes along with “silence as the dead.”and The Poet Speaker finds him “gray, and sullen” , that is, seriously ‘thoughtful’ showing a ‘morose and unsociable’ manner. The coldness of Winter makes him silent and without any live activity. : : The bird watchers Know that The Mocking Bird likes to live alone. Mockingbird’s arrival is among area’s signs of spring. Known for its impressive and loud vocalizations, the northern mockingbird is an intelligent bird that can mimic the songs of many other birds. The adult male sings about three quarters of the year, starting in February, finishing in August, then starts up again in late September, finishing in November. Meaning , no singing in December and January. : : Both males and females sing a varied, repetitive song that can be heard all day—and sometimes all night—during the spring and summer. They can incorporate non-bird noises they hear into their songs which can be about 200 songs, including some phases repeated upto 3 to 6 times.. Both male and female Mockingbirds are very territorial. They will chase off much larger animals, including humans, if they think their nests are being threatened or if they find them as intruders. An unmated male will sing throughout the night. Paired males start their serenading , that is, singing and playing for someone special, just before sunrise. Northern Mockingbirds have a few unique calls that can be used for identification. One in particular is the alarm or “churr” call that is used when predators or competitors are nearby. During the mating season in springtime , however both the male and female pair up during the breeding and build broods for the hatching of their eggs and for looking after the young ones. :

“The Mocking Bird”, A Bird Poem by Edwin B McElfatrick, Information Appreciation and poem Analysis Presented by V Jayaraj Pune India December 8, 2023 : : : : : : : :

To The Mocking Bird : Wilson Flagg : : Bird Poems : :

To The Mocking Bird : : by Wilson Flagg ( 1805 – 1884 )

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Carolling bird that merrily night and day
Tellest thy raptures from the rustling spray
And wakest the morning with thy varied lay
Singing thy matins
When we have come to hear thy sweet oblation
Of love and joyance from thy sylvan station 6
Why in the place of musical cantation 7
Balk us with pratings 8
We stroll by moonlight in the dusky forest 9
Where the tall cypress shields thee fervent chorist 10
And sit in haunts of echoes when thou pourest 11
Thy woodland solo 12
Hark from the next green tree thy song commences 13
Music and discord join to mock the senses 14
Repeated from the tree tops and the fences 15
From hill and hollow 16
A hundred voices mingle with thy clamor 17
Bird beast and reptile take part in thy drama 18
Outspeak they all in turn without a stammer
Brisk polyglot 19
Voices of kill deer plover duck and dotterel 20
Notes bubbling hissing mellow sharp and guttural 21
Of catbird cat or cartwheel thou canst utter all 22
And all untaught 23
The raven’s croak the chirrup of the sparrow 24
The jay’s harsh note the creaking of a barrow 25
The hoot of owls all join the soul to harrow
And grate the ear 26
We listen to thy quaint soliloquizing
As if all creatures thou wert catechizing
Tuning their voices and their notes revising
From far and near
Sweet bird that surely lovest the noise of folly
Most musical but never melancholy
Disturber of the hour that should be holy
With sounds prodigious
Fie on thee O thou feathered Paganini
To use thy little pipes to squawk and whinny
And emulate the hinge and spinning jenny
Making night hideous
Provoking melodist why canst thou breathe us
No thrilling harmony no charming pathos
No cheerful song of love without a bathos
The Furies take thee
Blast thy obstreperous mirth thy foolish chatter
Gag thee exhaust thy breath and stop thy clatter
And change thee to a beast thou senseless prater
Naught else can check thee
A lengthened pause ensues but hark again
From the near woodland stealing o er the plain
Comes forth a sweeter and a holier strain
Listening delighted
The gales breathe softly as they bear along
The warbled treasure the tumultuous throng
Of notes that swell accordant in the song
As love is plighted
The echoes joyful from their vocal cell
Leap with the winged sounds o er hill and dell
With kindling fervor as the chimes they tell
To wakeful even
They melt upon the ear they float away
They rise they sink they hasten they delay
And hold the listener with bewitching sway
Like sounds from heaven.

“To The Mocking Bird”, A Bird Poem by American Naturalist and Author, Wilson Flagg ( 1805 – 1884 ) is About The interesting remarks made for the varied aspects of Mimicking , Singing of The Mocking Bird which also include few questions and concerns of the impacts on The Poet Speaker who have raised and addressed to The Mocking Bird. : : : :

lines 1 To 6 : : The Mocking Bird named , “Caroling Bird” like joyful religious Carol /songs of celebrating the birth of Christ , sings merrily day and night and tells his raptures , that is , his overwhelming emotions / elated bliss , from the rustling spray , that is, a jet of water drops 💦 blown from the waterfall ; and wakes the morning with your varied lay / manner of settling ;
Singing your matins / at the daybreak / time of morning prayer ;
When we have come to hear your sweet oblation / offering to singing ( which raise the Church’s fund of charity ) , Of love and joy from a sylvan ( wooded ) station where your spirit lives in. : : : :

lines 7 To 13 : : Why in the place of musical cantation 7 / oratorio / composed for voices and orchestra ( as per religious text ) ,
Balk us with pratings 8 / holds us back with noisy chattering !?
We stroll by moonlight in the dusky forest 9 / We walk leisurely by moonlight in the dusky / dark forest ; Where the tall cypress ( tree ) shields thee / you fervent chorist 10 / passionate singer of the orchestra And sit in haunts of echoes / usual echoes when thou / your pourest 11 / pouring / incoming
Thy woodland solo 12 / solo singing of your woodland covered with trees and shrubs of a forest
Hark / listen to from the next green tree ( when ) thy/ your song commences 13 : : : :

lines 14 To 26 : : Music ( harmony ) and discord ( lack of harmony ) join to mock ( ridicule ) the senses 14 ( although both are in strife / in bitter conflict & contempt ) ;
Repeated from the tree tops and the fences ( berriers enclosing the area ) 15
From hill and hollow ( elevated lands and valley / depression between hills ) 16
A hundred voices mingle with ( mix up and unify ) thy clamor ( with your song of outcry ) 17
Bird beast ( animal ) and reptile take part in thy drama 18
Outspeak they all in turn ( opine ) without a stammer ( hesitation )
Brisk polyglot 19 ( very active linguist )
Voices of kill deer plover ( shorebird like sandpiper ) duck and dotterel ( eurasian plover ) 20
Notes bubbling ( high spirited / live ) hissing ( disapproving / booking ) mellow ( soft ) sharp ( musically raised in pitch ) and guttural ( croaky sound / from back of throat ) 21
Of catbird ( Songbird of North America whose call is like mewing of cat ) cat or cartwheel do a gymnast act ) thou canst / can’t utter ( verbalise ) all 22
And all untaught ( caused to unbelieve ) 23
The raven’s ( large blackbird’s ) croak ( hoarse sound ) the chirrup ( series of chirping / Twitter / high pitched chittering ) of the sparrow 24
The jay’s harsh note the creaking ( screech / squeaking sound ) of a barrow ( handle – cart of many wheels ) 25
The hoot ( laud raucous sound ) of owls all join the soul to harrow ( to smoothen )
And grate ( scratch / rub ) the ear 26 ( make the grating sound ) : : : :

lines 27 To Onwards .. . Pending Visit the post again later on to enjoy the appreciation of the poem V Jayaraj Pune India December 7 , 2023 : : : :

The Mocking – Bird : Frank Lebby Stanton : ( 1 ) : : Bird Poems : : Mighty Lak’ a Rose ( Baby / Mommy Song ) ( 2 ) : Frank Sinatra : Frank L. Stanton & Ethelbert Woodbridge Nevin ( Composer ) : :

F L Stanton, c. 1926 : : Frank Lebby Stanton (February 22, 1857 Charleston, South Carolina, United States – January 7, 1927 January 7, 1927 (aged 69) Atlanta Georgia ), frequently credited as Frank L. Stanton, Frank Stanton or F. L. Stanton, was an American lyricist. Part of Literary Movement called, Early Southern Renaissance. Notable works
**“Just Awearyin’ for You”, “Mighty Like a Rose”**
“”Morning”: : He was also the initial columnist for the Atlanta Constitution and became the first poet laureate of the State of Georgia, a post to which he was appointed by Governor Clifford Walker in 1925 and which Stanton held until his death. Stanton’s writing became quite popular and assiduously read. His column News from Billville (later Up from Georgia) forms the basis for claims that he was even the prototype for American newspaper columnists. Stantn’s poem such as “Mighty Lak a Rose” (which was set to music by Ethelbert Nevin [1862–1901]). The music for “A Plantation Ditty” (first line “De gray owl sing fum de chimbly top”) by Stanton was composed by Sidney Homer. Several of Stanton’s ballads were set to music by Oley Speaks.: American composers of art songs such as Ethelbert Nevin and Carrie Jacobs Bond wrote songs to his verses; composer Oley Speaks also set at least four of his poems to music: “The Hills of Dawn”, “In Maytime”, “Morning”, and “When Mabel Sings”. Joshua Emdon set his famous “Keep-A’ Goin’!” : Stanton’s most successful hit in popular music was his lyrics for the wildly selling 1901 parlor song “Awearyin’ for You” for which Carrie Jacobs-Bond provided the familiar tune. “Linger Not” and “Until God’s Day” are two other songs on which Stanton and Jacobs-Bond collaborated. most widely quoted during his lifetime was a quatrain titled “This World”; it is inscribed on his tombstone in Atlanta’s Westview Cemetery:

**This world we’re a’livin’ in**
**Is mighty hard to beat.**
**You get a thorn with every rose.**
**But ain’t the roses sweet?**

**Northern mockingbird range**
**Breeding range** **in yellow,**
**Year-round range** in green. A 2009 study showed that the bird was able to recognize individual humans, particularly noting those who had previously been intruders or threats.[3] Also birds recognize their breeding spots and return to areas in which they had greatest success in previous years. Urban birds are more likely to demonstrate this behavior

The Mocking – Bird ( Mimuspolyglottos ) has a n unique ability to mimic the songs of dozens at a time, of other birds, but it also has a beautiful song of its own. Both the male and female have gray upper parts and white underparts. Their white wing patches and outer tail feathers show up in flight and also while catching the insects. Their wings and tails appear rounded. The birds look alike except the female has a little less white in her feathers and is slightly smaller than the male the male attracts the female’s attention by lifting and spreading his wings high above his back and displaying his white wing patches. He also moves his tail up and down, coos softly, and occasionally runs back and forth in front of her carrying a twig. The two birds may then stand opposite each other and perform a dance pattern, repeating the sequence of steps before flying away.Both adults are involved in nest building. The male often gathers the materials while the female fits them together to form the nest. Grass, tender roots, and leaves form the lining for the small circular nest. It may take the two birds one to three or four days to build their nest. Most nests are found in low bushes, vines, or shrubbery near buildings or along woodland edges on stumps, brush piles, and fence posts. they are three to ten feet off the ground, but they can sometimes be found as low as one foot off the ground or as high as fifty feet. The three to six eggs, normally laid one a day, are spotted with brown and may vary in color. They can be yellowish or buffy grays or shades of green, blue, brown, or purple. The incubation period is from ten to fourteen days, and the female assumes most of the duties. feed on insects, wild fruit, and weed seeds. During the spring and summer caterpillars, grasshoppers, ants, bees, and other insects make up most of their diet. While feeding on the ground, mockers may spread their wings to expose the white undersides. Some observers believe this “wing-flashing” is used to startle insects such as grasshoppers into moving so they can be seen and caught. During the winter mockingbirds eat mostly vegetable matter. Wild fruits are a favorite whenever they are available, but the birds also may eat or damage some domestic fruits. Because of their insect-eating habits, most people consider them more helpful than harmful. The Little Gray Mocking Bird has earned the title “King of Song” and also the reputation for being a scrappy fighter against all odds.plain-looking bird with thin legs and a slender body that is no more than nine to eleven inches long, including its tail. In a paper published in 2009, researchers found that mockingbirds were able to recall an individual human who, earlier in the study, had approached and threatened the mockingbirds’ nest. Researchers had one participant stand near a mockingbird nest and touch it, while others avoided the nest. Later, the mockingbirds recognized the intruder and exhibited defensive behavior, while ignoring the other individuals. Since the mockingbird’s appearance is less than spectacular. Even though Texas, Tennessee, Florida, Mississippi, and Arkansas have all selected the mocker as their official state bird. The secret of its popularity is its unique singing ability. ( Based on the write up of Texas park and wildlife website. & Wikipedia’s Article. )

**The Mocking Birds : Painting by John James Audubon**

The Mocking-Bird : : by Frank Lebby Stanton

▼
He didn’t know much music
When first he come along;
An’ all the birds went wonderin’
Why he didn’t sing a song.
They primped their feathers in the sun,
An’ sung their sweetest notes;
An’ music jest come on the run
From all their purty throats!
But still that bird was silent
In summer time an’ fall;
He jest set still an’ listened,
An’ he wouldn’t sing at all!
But one night when them songsters
Was tired out an’ still,
An’ the wind sighed down the valley
An’ went creepin’ up the hill;
When the stars was all a-tremble
In the dreamin’ fields o’ blue,
An’ the daisy in the darkness
Felt the fallin’ o’ the dew,—
There come a sound o’ melody
No mortal ever heard,
An’ all the birds seemed singin’
From the throat o’ one sweet bird!
Then the other birds went Mayin’
In a land too fur to call;
Fer there warn’t no use in stayin’
When one bird could sing fer all!

“The Mocking- Bird”, A Bird Poem by Frank Lebby Stanton is About ( The Little Gray ) A Songster Bird , The Mocking Bird who was looked upon by the Warblers of the area as always found “still” and “silent” and who “didn’t know much music” when he appeared at the scene. So he didn’t sing a song when the other Warblers by their habits were singing their own “sweetest notes” from “all their purty ( likened to pert ) throat!”, Meaning cheeky , ( humorously ) forwarded throats and when they primped their feathers in the sun, that is, when they decked / dressed with plumes/ feathers in sunlight . “They went wondering / Why he didn’t sing a song.” They sang “jest(ingly)”/ in a funny teasing way as the Poet Speaker has noted, “An’ sung their sweetest notes;
An’ music jest come on the run” / flow in the air. : : Yet the Mocking Bird “wouldn’t sing at all! .. In summer time an’ fall;
He jest ( just ) set still an’ listened,” : : : : : : : The Poet Speaker then describes the natural world around the area interestingly , during “one night when the songsters
Were “tired out an’ still,
And “the wind sighed down the valley” ( the wind suspired / in deep & heavy breath in sadness for no sound of birds )
And “went creepin’ up the hill;” ( that is, the wind went up the hill in an increasingly slow , and in a stealthy manner )
“When the stars was all a-tremble
In the dreamin’ fields o’ blue,”( the stars shook up in their blue 🔵 peaceful surrounding of the sky )
And the “daisy in the darkness
Felt the fallin’ o’ the dew,—”( Daisy flower could find an instance of dew falling ), It was this time when The same Mocking Bird sang a “melodious” song for the first time in his life which “no mortal ever heard” as if ,”.. all the birds seemed singin’
From the throat o’ one sweet bird!” : : : : : : : As a result, “the other birds went Mayin’
In a land too fur to call;” ( “Maying”too far expresses a reading , possibility or a permission sought for : ‘ you may go now’and sing elsewhere. )
“Fer there warn’t no use in stayin’
When one bird could sing fer all!” : : Music is afterall , an Outstanding Artistic form of auditory communication incorporating vocal tones in a structured and continuous manner . The Mocking -Bird is one such perfect Artist. From speaking to singing , listening is one of the most important prerequisites, besides the biologically evolved attributes of singing ability. Among the vocalizations it imitates , are songs of the Carolina wren, northern cardinal, tufted titmouse, eastern towhee, house sparrow, wood thrush, and eastern bluebird, calls of the northern flicker and great crested flycatcher, jeers and pumphandles of the blue jay, and alarms, chups, and chirrs of the American robin. The ( 2013 Study ) data suggested that mimicry in the mockingbird resulted from the bird being genetically predisposed to learning vocalizations with acoustic characteristics such as an enlarged auditory template. The northern mockingbird’s mimicry is likely to serve as a form of sexual selection through which competition between males and female choice influence a bird’s song repertoire size. : : : :

**Displaying :** The mockingbird is influential in United States culture, being the state bird of five states, appearing in book titles, songs and lullabies, and making other appearances in popular culture. These birds forage on the ground or in vegetation; they also fly down from a perch to capture food. While foraging, they frequently spread their wings in a peculiar two-step motion to display the white patches. There is disagreement among ornithologists over the purpose of this behavior, with hypotheses ranging from deceleration to intimidation of predators or prey.

The Mocking – Bird has a n unique way of mimicking and singing. Its scientific name, Mimus polyglottos ( Northern Mocking- Bird ) means “many-tongued mimic,” and the Indians called it Cencontlatolly, which means “four hundred tongues.”Can imitate the songs of dozens of other birds. The male can warble, whistle, trill, and call, as well as make such interesting sounds as a squeaking gate, croaking frog, barking dog, and chirping cricket, car horns , policeman’s whistle, unoiled wheels, etc. His mimicry is so good that an electronic device might be needed to tell the original sound from the bird’s if it weren’t for the mocker’s habit of repeating things at least three times. Only 10 percent of his songs falls into the category of mimickings. Purely, his own songs may contain phases as often as 87 times in 7 minutes including each phase repeated 3 to 6 times. A mockingbird will perch in a tree or sit on a telephone pole or television antenna and sing both day and night. While singing, it spreads its tail, drops or raises its wings, and may even fling itself several feet into the air without missing a note. It has been known to sing for more than an hour without stopping and is especially noisy on moonlit nights. Light sleepers don’t like this. . The mockingbird sings all year long in the southern regions, but it is most vocal throughout its range from February to July and from late August through October. Young mockingbirds can sing, but their songs are described as “soft whisper” songs. Both male and female mockingbirds sing, with the latter being generally quieter and less vocal. Male commencement of singing is in late January to February and continues into the summer and for establishing of territory into the fall. Frequency in female singing is more sporadic, as it sings less often in the summer and fall, and only sings when the male is away from the territory. : : The mockingbird also possesses a large song repertoire that ranges from 43 to 203 song types and the size varies by region. Repertoire sizes ranged from 14 to 150 types in Texas, and two studies of mockingbirds in Florida rounded estimates to 134 and 200, approximately. It continually expands its repertoire during its life, though it pales in comparison to mimids such as the brown thrasher. There are four recognized calls for the mockingbird: the nest relief call, hew call, chat or chat burst, and the begging call. The hew call is mainly used by both sexes for potential nest predators, conspecific chasing, and various interactions between mates. The differences between chats and chat bursts are frequency of use, as chats are year-round, and chat bursts occur in the fall. Another difference is that chat bursts appear to be used in territorial defense in the fall, and the chats are used by either sex when disturbed. The nest relief and begging calls are only used by the males” : : The mockingbird lives primarily in the eastern, southern, and midwestern parts of the United States and it can be found throughout Texas. Adaptable and will make their home in both rural and heavily populated areas. Once a mockingbird stakes out its territory, it will defend that territory against all intruders, including animals much larger than itself. Driving away all intruders may not be always successful. They would dive even at the big animal , pecking it with their beaks and beating it with their wings which may continue even for half an hour ( time to get tired of the same game.) . House cats, dogs, and squirrels are easier for the mockers to harass, and on many occasions the birds seem to be teasing the animals and large birds like , eagle too. Squabbles between mockingbirds ( male or female , both ) are not uncommon while maintaining own territories. May challenge its own image reflected in a window or shiny surface. Such hostility ends on setting up of broods ( in spring) Young mockers quickly learn to assume the threatening posture, cocking and fanning their tails while uttering sharp notes.

( 2 ) Mighty Lak’ a Rose
Song by Frank Sinatra

Sweetest little feller
Everybody knows
Don’t know what to call him
But he’s mighty like a rose
Lookin’ at his mammy
Eyes so shiny blue
Make you think that heaven is comin’ close to you
When he’s there sleeping in his little place
Think I see the angels lookin’ through the lace
When the dark is fallin’
When the shadows creep
Then they come on tip-toe
To kiss him in his sleep
Sweetest little feller
Everybody knows
Don’t know what to call him
But he’s mighty like a rose
Lookin’ at his mammy
Eyes so shiny blue
Make you think that heaven is comin’ close to you
Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: Ethelbert Woodbridge Nevin / Frank L. Stanton
Mighty Lak’ a Rose lyrics © Mca Music Publishing, A.d.o. Universal Studio : : : : : : : CLICK HERE In BELOW to visit the You Tube to LISTEN TO The Above Song in The Voice of Frank Sinatra : :

https://youtu.be/CoPHPkMibJw?si=u5l_T8Ax_J6cgs9q

And In The Voice of Singing Lady , IRENE WICKER ( 1935 ) Recording : :

https://youtu.be/W0v4vZhhohQ?si=nYPCkXgb2hyArzqw

The Mocking Bird : Sydney Lanier : : Bird Poems : :

**Sydney Lanier ( 1842 – 1881 ) : American poet from the state of Georgia; poems are still popular today, especially in the American South, where many places and things are named for him.**

THE MOCKING BIRD : : By Sydney Lanier ( 1842 – 1881 )

Superb and sole, upon a pluméd spray
⁠That o’er the general leafage boldly grew,
⁠He summ’d the woods with song; or typic drew
The swoop of hungry hawks, the lone dismay
Of languid doves when long their lovers stray,
⁠And all birds’ passion-plays that sprinkle dew
⁠At morn in brake or bosky avenue.
Whate’er birds did or dreamed, this bird could say.

Then down he shot, bounced airily along
The sward, twitched-in a grasshopper, made song
⁠Midflight, perched, primped, and to his art again.
⁠Sweet Science, this large riddle read me plain:
How may the death of that dull insect be
The life of yon trim Shakespeare on the tree?

Sidney Lanier 1877

Sidney Lanier poetry
fleursdumal.nl magazine

To Our Mocking-Bird : Sidney Lanier : : Bird Poems : :

**Sidney Clopton Lanier**
**(1842–1881) : American poet from the state of Georgia; poems are still popular today, especially in the American South, where many places and things are named for him.**

To Our Mocking-Bird : Died of our cat , May 1878 : : by Sidney Lanier

▼
I.
Trillets of humor, — shrewdest whistle-wit, —
Contralto cadences of grave desire
Such as from off the passionate Indian pyre
Drift down through sandal-odored flames that split
About the slim young widow who doth sit
And sing above, — midnights of tone entire, —
Tissues of moonlight shot with songs of fire; —
Bright drops of tune, from oceans infinite
Of melody, sipped off the thin-edged wave
And trickling down the beak, — discourses brave
Of serious matter that no man may guess, —
Good-fellow greetings, cries of light distress —
All these but now within the house we heard:
O Death, wast thou too deaf to hear the bird?
II.
Ah me, though never an ear for song, thou hast
A tireless tooth for songsters: thus of late
Thou camest, Death, thou Cat! and leap’st my gate,
And, long ere Love could follow, thou hadst passed
Within and snatched away, how fast, how fast,
My bird — wit, songs, and all — thy richest freight
Since that fell time when in some wink of fate
Thy yellow claws unsheathed and stretched, and cast
Sharp hold on Keats, and dragged him slow away,
And harried him with hope and horrid play —
Ay, him, the world’s best wood-bird, wise with song —
Till thou hadst wrought thine own last mortal wrong.
‘Twas wrong! ’twas wrong! I care not, wrong’s the word!
To munch our Keats and crunch our Keats and crunch our mocking-bird.
III.
Nay, Bird; my grief gainsays the Lord’s best right.
The Lord was fain, at some late festal time,
That Keats should set all Heaven’s woods in rhyme,
And thou in bird-notes. Lo, this tearful night,
Methinks I see thee, fresh from death’s despite,
Perched in a palm-grove, wild with pantomime,
O’er blissful companies couched in shady thyme,
— Methinks I hear thy silver whistlings bright
Mix with the mighty discourse of the wise,
Till broad Beethoven, deaf no more, and Keats,
‘Midst of much talk, uplift their smiling eyes,
And mark the music of thy wood-conceits,
And halfway pause on some large, courteous word,
And call thee “Brother,” O thou heavenly Bird!

Sidney Lanier composed this poem in 1878 while he was living in Baltimore, Maryland.

The Mocking – Bird: William Henry Timrod : : Bird Poems : :

The Mocking-Bird : : by William Henry Timrod

▼
Nor did lack
Sweet music to the magic of the scene:
The little crimson-breasted Nonpareil
Was there, his tiny feet scarce bending down
The silken tendril that he lighted on
To pour his love notes; and in russet coat,
Most homely, like true genius bursting forth
In spite of adverse fortune, a full choir
Within himself, the merry Mock Bird sate,
Filling the air with melody; and at times,
In the rapt favor of his sweetest song,
His quivering form would spring into the sky,
In spiral circles, as if he would catch
New powers from kindred warblers in the clouds
Who would bend down to greet him!

“The Mocking -Bird”, A Bird Poem by William Henry Timrod is About The Poet Speaker’s Bird watching, especially his keen observation of Singing of The Mocking Bird and his reciprocally receiving the melodious notes from the other Warblers in the clouds for reciting his sweetest love song. The Mocking Bird , afterall is an excellent in mimicking other Warblers who also sing similar notes of melody that would be instantly shared with. The Mocking Bird has been described in his recognised image, as with “The little crimson-breast” , tiny feet as if scarce ( hardly / almost nothing ) bending down , his stem – like structure, to call it
“The silken tendril” ( slim thin delicate ) form that “he lighted on / To pour his love notes; and in russet coat , that is, in a chest below his singing throat having brown cover tinged with redness. 🤎 The Mocking Bird has been settled “Most homely, like true genius”/ ” bursting forth” suddenly in forced releases in to the loud voice that was kept in his pent – up or suppressed emotions.

The Poet Speaker portrays The “merrily singing” Mockingbird as if not being a single chorister in a full choir ( Musical Orchestra of many singers with many instruments ) , but is One In All , “Within himself, Filling the air with melody; and at times,
In the rapt favor of his sweetest song, “, that is, gifting a souvenir/ momento of his sweetest song absorbed in ecstasy which produces very wide impact in
“His quivering form ( that ) would spring into the sky,” that is, the vibrating beats that would bounce in to the sky and rebound
“In spiral circles, as if he would catch
New powers from kindred warblers in the clouds
Who would bend down to greet him!” : : The kindred Warblers stated here in the clouds are the heavenly singing souls , akin to spread sweetest song in ecstasy who would bend down “Meaning , as in Music , they say, ‘would smoothly change the notes relaying around with the similar sweetness with a view “to greet” the Mock(ing) Bird ! Who would, as The poet experiences, “sate,
Filling the air with melody,” that is, he would easily mimick the “melodious notes” 🎶 of the Sweetest “love song” that fills to satisfaction / satiated in this fashion. ( supplied / fed to satisfaction ) : :

“The Mocking Bird”, A Bird Poem by William Henry Timrod Information Appreciation and poem Analysis Presented by V Jayaraj Pune India December 3, 2023 : : : : : : : :

Hush Little Baby , Don’t Say A Word ( Nursery rhyme ) : Mother Goose : : Bird Poems : :

Hush little baby, don’t say a word : : By Mother Goose : :
Hush little baby, don’t say a word,
Papa’s gonna buy you a mockingbird.

And if that mockingbird won’t sing,
Papa’s gonna buy you a diamond ring.

And if that diamond ring turns to brass,
Papa’s gonna buy you a looking glass.

And if that looking glass gets broke,
Papa’s gonna buy you a billy goat.

And if that billy goat won’t pull,
Papa’s gonna buy you a cart and bull.

And if that cart and bull turn over,
Papa’s gonna buy you a dog named Rover.

And if that dog named Rover won’t bark,
Papa’s gonna buy you a horse and cart.

And if that horse and cart fall down,
You’ll still be the sweetest little baby in town!
— Mother Goose : : Source: The Dorling Kindersley Book of Nursery Rhymes (2000)

Notes for each of the Couplets Pending visit this post again later on to enjoy the appreciation of the poem V Jayaraj Pune India December 2, 2023 : : : :