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On Wings of Song: Poems About Birds
From backyard to barnyard, from hawks to hummingbirds, from pelicans to peacocks, from Coleridge's albatross to Keats's nightingale to Poe's raven-all manner of feathered beings, the inspiration for poetic flights of fancy through the ages, are gathered together in this delightful volume.
Some of the winged Emily Dickinson on the jay; Gertrude Stein on pigeons; Seamus Heaney on turkeys; Tennyson on the eagle; Spenser on the merry cuckoo; Amy Clampitt on the whippoorwill; Po Chü-i on cranes; John Updike on seagulls; W.S. Merwin on the duck; Elizabeth Bishop on the sandpiper; Rilke on flamingoes; Margaret Atwood on vultures; the Bible on the ostrich; Sylvia Plath on the owl; Melville on the hawk; Yeats on wild swans; Virgil on the harpies; Thomas Hardy on the darkling thrush; and Wallace Stevens on thirteen ways of looking at a blackbird.
Some of the winged Emily Dickinson on the jay; Gertrude Stein on pigeons; Seamus Heaney on turkeys; Tennyson on the eagle; Spenser on the merry cuckoo; Amy Clampitt on the whippoorwill; Po Chü-i on cranes; John Updike on seagulls; W.S. Merwin on the duck; Elizabeth Bishop on the sandpiper; Rilke on flamingoes; Margaret Atwood on vultures; the Bible on the ostrich; Sylvia Plath on the owl; Melville on the hawk; Yeats on wild swans; Virgil on the harpies; Thomas Hardy on the darkling thrush; and Wallace Stevens on thirteen ways of looking at a blackbird.
256 pages, Hardcover
First published March 28, 2000
10 people are currently reading
208 people want to read
About the author
J.D. McClatchy
102 books37 followersMcClatchy is an adjunct professor at Yale University and editor of the Yale Review. He also edits the "Voice of the Poet" series for Random House AudioBooks.
His book Hazmat (Alfred A. Knopf, 2002) was nominated for the 2003 Pulitzer Prize. He has written texts for musical settings, including eight opera libretti, for such composers as Elliot Goldenthal, Daron Hagen, Lowell Liebermann, Lorin Maazel, Tobias Picker, Ned Rorem, Bruce Saylor, and William Schuman. His honors include an Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters (1991). He has also been one of the New York Public Literary Lions, and received the 2000 Connecticut Governor’s Arts Award.
In 1999, he was elected into the membership of The American Academy of Arts and Letters, and in January 2009 he was elected president. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and has received fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation (1987), the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Academy of American Poets (1991). He served as Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets from 1996 until 2003. (Wikipedia)
His book Hazmat (Alfred A. Knopf, 2002) was nominated for the 2003 Pulitzer Prize. He has written texts for musical settings, including eight opera libretti, for such composers as Elliot Goldenthal, Daron Hagen, Lowell Liebermann, Lorin Maazel, Tobias Picker, Ned Rorem, Bruce Saylor, and William Schuman. His honors include an Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters (1991). He has also been one of the New York Public Literary Lions, and received the 2000 Connecticut Governor’s Arts Award.
In 1999, he was elected into the membership of The American Academy of Arts and Letters, and in January 2009 he was elected president. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and has received fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation (1987), the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Academy of American Poets (1991). He served as Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets from 1996 until 2003. (Wikipedia)
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
November 11, 2021
I love poetry, and I loved some of these poems (especially the one by Mary Oliver, of course). Some of the "classics" like Yeats and Chaucer just aren't my cup of tea. But I bought this book to give to my friend who is a birdwatcher. I think she may like it. It's even better I imagine if you can read the bird's name, or about his call, and actually picture/hear that in your mind.
Don't look for wonderful artwork beyond the dust jacket (which is beautiful by Barbara de Wilde); they missed a wonderful opportunity there.
Don't look for wonderful artwork beyond the dust jacket (which is beautiful by Barbara de Wilde); they missed a wonderful opportunity there.
March 31, 2023
A collection of poems, both originally English as well as some translations (of Baudelaire and Virgil, among others) about birds. Chaucer, Ted Hughes, Yeats, Sylvia Plath, Coleridge, Edward Lear, Ogden Nash and many other, both well-known and not, are included here. The poems are grouped together into different sections (backyard, barnyard, at water's edge, field and forest, and so on), with some especially inspirational birds - the nightingale, owl, hawk, peacock, etc - getting sections of their own.
The poems run the gamut from famous ones, inspirational and metaphorical poems, to chilling (Edgar Allan Poe's The Raven), to funny little rhymes and even one delightfully educational (semi-educational?) one, EB White's A Listener's Guide to the Birds, teaching its readers about how to identify common American birds through their songs.
The poems run the gamut from famous ones, inspirational and metaphorical poems, to chilling (Edgar Allan Poe's The Raven), to funny little rhymes and even one delightfully educational (semi-educational?) one, EB White's A Listener's Guide to the Birds, teaching its readers about how to identify common American birds through their songs.
August 21, 2018
I don't read enough poetry. This is an anthology of bird poems by all the best poets. It served as my minimum yearly dosage of poetry. There are a few snippets I would like to include when there is more time.
September 25, 2014
I found this book of poems a mixed bag. But I also really like these Everyman's Library Pocket Poet anthologies. As a birder, I have a good knowledge of birds and have certain impressions. So it's hard for me to get excited about poems about vultures, or gulls, doves. Some of my views about certain species are at odds with the poets. Other poems are quite good: Hall's "Short Circuit," or Thomas' "The Owl," or Merwin's "Fly" to name a few. An Ojibwa song called "The Loon Upon the Lake" is especially beautiful. A couple of the poems are very old and written in middle English (Chaucer). I found these hard to understand. If you like birds and poetry, then this small book is for you. Recommended.
December 21, 2021
The poems that were about birds were wonderful. Some of the strange modern ones, we did not like. Their views of certain birds were unwarranted. (We bird watch and didn’t think they were fair to the birds.) It was interesting to see the contrast. Mary Oliver’s nature poems, lovely. Poe’s The Raven, fun.
Read aloud to my children.
Read aloud to my children.
May 27, 2022
i am addicted to these pocket poets books. popping em in my big hungry mouth like candy
January 5, 2026
Most of these are just descriptions of birds or of what the birds were doing. Very few of these say anything more than that.
June 13, 2009
This is a wonderful little book, packed full of great poems about birds of all types. The book is divided into sections such as: The Backyard; The Hawk and Legendary and Emblematic Birds. Poems include classics such as Edgar Allan Poe's The Raven and Wallace Stevens' 13 Ways of Looking at a Blackbird along with less well known poems by a diverse array of poets including Walt Whitman, Lewis Carrol and Gertrude Stein. My favourite poems were often about my favourite birds, for example Ted Hughes' Swifts or resonated with my recent sightings, such as David Waggoner's Nuthatch. It's a wonderful book for anyone who loves birds and poetry!
April 12, 2010
This was a gift from a dear friend. She knew that I love poetry and birds. It has all my old favorites of poems about birds and oodles of those I had never read. This is a great way to get introduced to other authors. It is small enough to put in your purse so that you can read from it when you wait and comes with ribbon to mark your place. It is a wonderful little book.
November 28, 2022
First off, the Everyman’s Library Pocket Poems is a neat size and design for a book —similar to the Everyman’s Library Classics(canvas style hardcover) except it’s pocket sized— perfect for throwing in a bag or pocket to take for a walk to the park. I have four of these Everyman’s and they look and feel great on the shelf or in the hand. Normally, I could care less but for some reason, it matters here. If I’m going to have poetry anthologies on my shelves I believe they should be nicer than your average book. They work hard at earning affection without seemingly trying too hard.
But enough about the design and build quality. On Wings of Songs is a great installment of the Everyman’s Library in that it covers a wide range of poems and poets from the ancient to the modern. Birds have been around us since our beginning so it’s easy to understand the ways in which they capture(d) our imagination and fascination. Birds are ubiquitous and diverse so there is no shortage of poems that have been written about their wide variety. This means the poems that are selected for this anthologies are not being chosen simply because they simply contain a bird somewhere in the poem, they are chosen because they are good, important, popular, or inventive poems. They are chosen for quality.
Birds are concrete creatures and concreteness lends itself to good poetry in that it is visual and immediately apprehensible as opposed to highly abstract or intangible which would require a lot of effortful thinking. Good poetry should be at least immediately apprehensible. Too much thinking too soon is not the sign of a good poem. Thankfully, birds strike a good balance of immediate apprehensibility and high metaphorical potentiality. They, as subjects, can hold layers quite well. Why should you care? Because the immediacy of a subject matter opens the door of interest while the layers can offer fathomable depths to explore.
Birds can represent many things to us, one of which is the yearning we have deep within ourselves to be utterly free. The extent of that freedom through flight is both alluring and terrifying, yet we long for it and seek to transcend our limits. We seek to sing with the same beauty and shamelessness as they take to their song. Perhaps we can attain brief moments of beauty and freeing transcendence with the curated selection found here.
One of my new favorites:
THE ALBATROSS by Charles Baudelaire
Often, for pastime, mariners will ensnare
The albatross, that vast sea-bird who sweeps
On high companionable pinion where
Their vessel glides upon the bitter deeps.
Torn from his native space, this captive king
Flounders upon the deck in stricken pride,
And pitiably lets his great white wing
Drag like a heavy paddle at his side.
This rider of winds, how awkward he is, and weak!
How droll he seems, who lately was all grace!
A sailor pokes a pipestem into his beak;
Another, hobbling, mocks his trammeled pace.
The Poet is like this monarch of the clouds,
Familiar of storms, of stars, and of all high things;
Exiled on earth amidst its hooting crowds,
He cannot walk, borne down by his giant wings.
— translated by Richard Wilbur
But enough about the design and build quality. On Wings of Songs is a great installment of the Everyman’s Library in that it covers a wide range of poems and poets from the ancient to the modern. Birds have been around us since our beginning so it’s easy to understand the ways in which they capture(d) our imagination and fascination. Birds are ubiquitous and diverse so there is no shortage of poems that have been written about their wide variety. This means the poems that are selected for this anthologies are not being chosen simply because they simply contain a bird somewhere in the poem, they are chosen because they are good, important, popular, or inventive poems. They are chosen for quality.
Birds are concrete creatures and concreteness lends itself to good poetry in that it is visual and immediately apprehensible as opposed to highly abstract or intangible which would require a lot of effortful thinking. Good poetry should be at least immediately apprehensible. Too much thinking too soon is not the sign of a good poem. Thankfully, birds strike a good balance of immediate apprehensibility and high metaphorical potentiality. They, as subjects, can hold layers quite well. Why should you care? Because the immediacy of a subject matter opens the door of interest while the layers can offer fathomable depths to explore.
Birds can represent many things to us, one of which is the yearning we have deep within ourselves to be utterly free. The extent of that freedom through flight is both alluring and terrifying, yet we long for it and seek to transcend our limits. We seek to sing with the same beauty and shamelessness as they take to their song. Perhaps we can attain brief moments of beauty and freeing transcendence with the curated selection found here.
One of my new favorites:
THE ALBATROSS by Charles Baudelaire
Often, for pastime, mariners will ensnare
The albatross, that vast sea-bird who sweeps
On high companionable pinion where
Their vessel glides upon the bitter deeps.
Torn from his native space, this captive king
Flounders upon the deck in stricken pride,
And pitiably lets his great white wing
Drag like a heavy paddle at his side.
This rider of winds, how awkward he is, and weak!
How droll he seems, who lately was all grace!
A sailor pokes a pipestem into his beak;
Another, hobbling, mocks his trammeled pace.
The Poet is like this monarch of the clouds,
Familiar of storms, of stars, and of all high things;
Exiled on earth amidst its hooting crowds,
He cannot walk, borne down by his giant wings.
— translated by Richard Wilbur
January 21, 2023
I stumbled across this book while browsing in the poetry section in my library!
The cover is gorgeous, the layout of the entire book is so nice to look at and read, and I love the useful contents page & the index of authors in the back!
There are tons of poems and they’re all put into categories like “The Backyard”, “Birds of Prey”, “At Water’s Edge”, and “Flightless Birds”, to name a few!
I really enjoyed picking this book up every daddy and reading aa few quick poems. There were a few poems that I didn’t care for too much, but for the most part I liked a LOT of them! Again, this book was a really enjoyable compilation of bird poems.
You get pretty poems, long poems, sad poems, etc! There’s so much to love. Whether you read each page, or just skim through this book and read poems from your favorite authors, you'll love this book.
I’m excited to check out other poetry books from this “Everyman”s Library Pocket Poets” series!
(Personal note for future reference:)
Here are all of the poems I liked:
1. Nuthatch - David Wagoner (Page 22)
2. Juncos - William Stafford (Page 26)
3. The Robin - John Greenleaf Whittier (Page 27)
4. The Starling - John Heath-Stubbs (Page 29)
5. The Eagle - Alfred, Lord Tennyson (Page 49)
6. The Hollow Wood - Edward Thomas (Page 65)
7. Cormorants - John Kinsella (Page 80)
8. If I Were a Cassowary - Samuel Wilberforce (Page 103)
9. The Peacock’s Eye - Gerard Manley Hopkins (Page 117)
10. The Man-Of-War Hawk - Herman Melville (Page 137)
11. Hawk Roosting - Ted Hughes (Page 138)
12. Hawk - Mary Oliver (Page 143)
13. The Silver Swan - Orlando Gibbons (Page 147)
14. The Wild Swans at Coole - William Butler Yeats (Page 153)
15. Bird’s Nests - John Clare (Page 159)
16. Three Things to Remember - William Blake (Page 165)
17. The Caged Goldfinch - Thomas Hardy (Page 166)
18. The Death and Burial of Cock Robbin - Anon (Page 181)
19. The Owl and The Pussy-Cat - Edward Lear (Page 189) 💙
20. The Sea-Gull - Ogden Nash (Page 191)
21. The Raven - Edgar Allen Poe (Page 227)
Here’s a short poem that I wrote while reading this book:
Birds are the creatures which God has granted us...
Those winged beasts, they.
Each so lovely and powerful in his own way.
Let us love them then, now, and every single day.
Me
1-20-23
The cover is gorgeous, the layout of the entire book is so nice to look at and read, and I love the useful contents page & the index of authors in the back!
There are tons of poems and they’re all put into categories like “The Backyard”, “Birds of Prey”, “At Water’s Edge”, and “Flightless Birds”, to name a few!
I really enjoyed picking this book up every daddy and reading aa few quick poems. There were a few poems that I didn’t care for too much, but for the most part I liked a LOT of them! Again, this book was a really enjoyable compilation of bird poems.
You get pretty poems, long poems, sad poems, etc! There’s so much to love. Whether you read each page, or just skim through this book and read poems from your favorite authors, you'll love this book.
I’m excited to check out other poetry books from this “Everyman”s Library Pocket Poets” series!
(Personal note for future reference:)
Here are all of the poems I liked:
1. Nuthatch - David Wagoner (Page 22)
2. Juncos - William Stafford (Page 26)
3. The Robin - John Greenleaf Whittier (Page 27)
4. The Starling - John Heath-Stubbs (Page 29)
5. The Eagle - Alfred, Lord Tennyson (Page 49)
6. The Hollow Wood - Edward Thomas (Page 65)
7. Cormorants - John Kinsella (Page 80)
8. If I Were a Cassowary - Samuel Wilberforce (Page 103)
9. The Peacock’s Eye - Gerard Manley Hopkins (Page 117)
10. The Man-Of-War Hawk - Herman Melville (Page 137)
11. Hawk Roosting - Ted Hughes (Page 138)
12. Hawk - Mary Oliver (Page 143)
13. The Silver Swan - Orlando Gibbons (Page 147)
14. The Wild Swans at Coole - William Butler Yeats (Page 153)
15. Bird’s Nests - John Clare (Page 159)
16. Three Things to Remember - William Blake (Page 165)
17. The Caged Goldfinch - Thomas Hardy (Page 166)
18. The Death and Burial of Cock Robbin - Anon (Page 181)
19. The Owl and The Pussy-Cat - Edward Lear (Page 189) 💙
20. The Sea-Gull - Ogden Nash (Page 191)
21. The Raven - Edgar Allen Poe (Page 227)
Here’s a short poem that I wrote while reading this book:
Birds are the creatures which God has granted us...
Those winged beasts, they.
Each so lovely and powerful in his own way.
Let us love them then, now, and every single day.
Me
1-20-23
January 11, 2026
I really wanted to love this Everyman's Library Pocket Poets collection of poems about birds - but I simply did not. In fact, I got about half way through and almost stopped.
I am glad I decided to finish the collection, as some of my favorite poems are in the last half of the book.
I love the beautiful book jacket designed by Barbara de Wilde and the title, "On Wings of Song." I also enjoyed how the editor divided the sections to reflect different kinds of birds as well as different topics around birds.
My main complaint is about the selection of poems by editor J. D. McClathy, In the foreward, he writes: "It's not what birds are or do, but what they remind us of about ourselves, that is the focus. And brought together here are some of the most inspired and beloved poems ever written."
His selection does not reflect this idea. One reason is because the majority of the poets in this collection are American and British men. Women are included, but to a much lesser extent. There is not one single poem by a black poet, despite the fact that there are several famous poems connected to birds. "Dreams," by Langston Hughes and "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings," by Maya Angelou are two notable examples. And, there are only a few poems from cultures and races other than the Western Caucasian culture (such as "Pigeons," by Vikram Seth; "The Cranes," by Po-Chu-I).
As someone who feels a deep connection to birds, I found many of the selections too dry and intellectual for me.
I also do not understand why McClathy chose more than one poem from some poets. Particularly three from Chaucer, difficult to read because of his language.
All and all, the book did not transport me in the way I had hoped it would. Perhaps, "Everyday Library Pocket Poets" could do a few more bird themed anthologies that reflect the diversity of poets throughout time that have been inspired by birds in their own unique ways.
I am glad I decided to finish the collection, as some of my favorite poems are in the last half of the book.
I love the beautiful book jacket designed by Barbara de Wilde and the title, "On Wings of Song." I also enjoyed how the editor divided the sections to reflect different kinds of birds as well as different topics around birds.
My main complaint is about the selection of poems by editor J. D. McClathy, In the foreward, he writes: "It's not what birds are or do, but what they remind us of about ourselves, that is the focus. And brought together here are some of the most inspired and beloved poems ever written."
His selection does not reflect this idea. One reason is because the majority of the poets in this collection are American and British men. Women are included, but to a much lesser extent. There is not one single poem by a black poet, despite the fact that there are several famous poems connected to birds. "Dreams," by Langston Hughes and "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings," by Maya Angelou are two notable examples. And, there are only a few poems from cultures and races other than the Western Caucasian culture (such as "Pigeons," by Vikram Seth; "The Cranes," by Po-Chu-I).
As someone who feels a deep connection to birds, I found many of the selections too dry and intellectual for me.
I also do not understand why McClathy chose more than one poem from some poets. Particularly three from Chaucer, difficult to read because of his language.
All and all, the book did not transport me in the way I had hoped it would. Perhaps, "Everyday Library Pocket Poets" could do a few more bird themed anthologies that reflect the diversity of poets throughout time that have been inspired by birds in their own unique ways.
September 25, 2024
This is a potpourri of poems. Most are short. Some describe birds, their lives and their behavior, while others just mention birds in passing. Birds are symbols for some authors, and their meaning is obtuse in many of these selections. A few describe them in a nonsensical manner.
Suffice it to say there is something that may appeal to any reader of poetry who likes birds in this collection. Unfortunately the few gems among the poems do not make up for the fact that most of the selections are not exceptional. The majority are pedestrian and mundane. This is especially true of those poems in which birds make a fleeting appearance while the true focus of it is elsewhere.
The diversity of styles and subject matter, and lack of focus despite sections related to different habitats, eg, backyards, woodlands, waters edge, etc al; family or species, eg, owl, peacock, swan, et al; and legendary birds, which are organized and presented in a haphazard manner, leaves the reader dissatisfied since the collection does not flow smoothly from one subject to another, let alone one poem to the next.
Suffice it to say there is something that may appeal to any reader of poetry who likes birds in this collection. Unfortunately the few gems among the poems do not make up for the fact that most of the selections are not exceptional. The majority are pedestrian and mundane. This is especially true of those poems in which birds make a fleeting appearance while the true focus of it is elsewhere.
The diversity of styles and subject matter, and lack of focus despite sections related to different habitats, eg, backyards, woodlands, waters edge, etc al; family or species, eg, owl, peacock, swan, et al; and legendary birds, which are organized and presented in a haphazard manner, leaves the reader dissatisfied since the collection does not flow smoothly from one subject to another, let alone one poem to the next.
Read
November 11, 2023This was a *lot* of bird poems.
Dog-eared:
"The Mockingbird," Randall Jarrell
"A Whipporwill in the Woods," Amy Clampitt
"Never Again Would Birds' Song Be the Same," Robert Frost
"Bird-Language," W. H. Auden
"The Saddest Noise," Emily Dickinson
Dog-eared:
"The Mockingbird," Randall Jarrell
"A Whipporwill in the Woods," Amy Clampitt
"Never Again Would Birds' Song Be the Same," Robert Frost
"Bird-Language," W. H. Auden
"The Saddest Noise," Emily Dickinson
April 28, 2013
A fair collection of poems about birds. Mind you not all poems I felt successfully brought across the marvels of birds or birds at all. The few that did were very well done.
September 11, 2014
A nice book to read on Mary Oliver's birthday.
August 17, 2021
The entire book contains poems about lovely birds. My friend, J, gave me this book because it was so beautifully covered and because she knows I love birds.
July 7, 2012
Take out most of the 20th century crap posing as poetry and you'd have a five-star book.
November 2, 2012
wonderful anthology of verse
April 8, 2017
Marvelous selection! Gives a taste of some of the best-known poets throughout history- Wordsworth, Plath, Whitman, Keats, Clampitt... and a few new favorites! Very charming, and I highly recommend the Everyman's Pocket Poets series overall. I cannot wait to add a few more of their books to my collection.
August 10, 2018
A delightful concept, especially for those who find birds fascinating and inspiring. Poems are further categorized by types of bird or ideas around birds (such as "nests"). There is an index by author in the back. I am sad to say that I did not find as many poems that I liked as I hoped and thought I would. I guess I just have to start writing more of my own. In the meantime, I'll keep this one to open on occasion and reflect on some particular bird for whom I have gained a new appreciation.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews