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Bird Book: Poems
In this stunning collection, the author offers an exquisite array of poems at once sublime and playful, dedicated to the unearthly wonders of winged creatures. The book is a universal song of praise to the mysteries and intricacies of the animal world that surrounds us, and a wide-awake hymn, by a master lyricist, to the delights and surprises of our common language. The brilliantly vivid, elegant verse is sure to delight and inspire general readers, poetry enthusiasts, and avid birders or naturalists alike.
100 pages, Paperback
Published September 5, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
April 8, 2019
I am not a birder, but I am bird-friendly. I suppose that makes me predisposed to enjoy this book, as does my having had Sidney as a teacher. Still, I can't imagine anyone but the hopelessly stodgy turning away from a passage like this, in "Whimbrel":
Kin to
the limpkin,
she whimpers
when primping,
wears rimless
eyeglasses
for skimming
her primer
on swimming.
Most poems in the book take roughly this shape: couplets of lines whose syllables you can count on one finger, often with a dactylic rhythm (ptero-dactylic?) and varied, profuse rhyme. They are light but never slight, rich in detail and metaphor. They can be laugh-out-loud funny ("Cardinal,"), or funny and apologetic ("Turkey Vultures"), or mournful and consoling ("Witness Tree Junction," a rare long-lined poem in the book, written on the occasion of 11/9/16).
This is one of the few books of poetry I've read in a single sitting. I gobbled it down, infected by its love for "the light / and the feathered // heart verbs / of the world." Oh, and did I mention it has beautiful illustrations, courtesy of Audubon? It's just another detail that makes this book atypical and seductive. I'd recommend it to anyone.
Kin to
the limpkin,
she whimpers
when primping,
wears rimless
eyeglasses
for skimming
her primer
on swimming.
Most poems in the book take roughly this shape: couplets of lines whose syllables you can count on one finger, often with a dactylic rhythm (ptero-dactylic?) and varied, profuse rhyme. They are light but never slight, rich in detail and metaphor. They can be laugh-out-loud funny ("Cardinal,"), or funny and apologetic ("Turkey Vultures"), or mournful and consoling ("Witness Tree Junction," a rare long-lined poem in the book, written on the occasion of 11/9/16).
This is one of the few books of poetry I've read in a single sitting. I gobbled it down, infected by its love for "the light / and the feathered // heart verbs / of the world." Oh, and did I mention it has beautiful illustrations, courtesy of Audubon? It's just another detail that makes this book atypical and seductive. I'd recommend it to anyone.
August 13, 2017
Sidney Wade's mastery of the short line helps focus the reader's eye on the details of the birds and other creatures that populate this book. The book also features beautiful illustrations and some unexpected language.
January 23, 2021
This book has some great poems. They are mostly short line couplets with two or three words per line. A few are full stanzas with four long lines per stanza. I personally like that style better, but some of the others had great content.
August 21, 2018
Read these poems out loud, slowly, or you'll miss much of the sonic complexity in these deceptively slim poems. Wade's lyrics are full of subtle rhymes and echoes. These are gorgeous poems.
June 5, 2019
Sidney Wade’s Bird Book contains poems that are about much more than birds. And at the same time they are also beautifully crafted bird poems.
December 10, 2025
A sweet book of poems about birds. It sent me Googling multiple times, to see photos and learn about birds I didn't know.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews