Wednesday, August 08, 2007

Birdsong Memories

Birdsong Memories


Twenty years ago, there were birds which used to sing volubly together – blackbirds and thrushes included – so loudly sometimes they used to wake us up. It was beautiful though not always popular. Most movingly, a thrush sometimes sang in Winter.

In the late 'eighties, Kentish Town’s dawn chorus faltered and stopped. In the 'nineties we used to have stentorian crows who would tell the whole neighbourhood off. Then we had a few pigeons, until by the late 'nineties even they disappeared. From then on it has been silent and – quite literally – “No birds sing.”

Until just the other day….See previous post.

2 comments:

Lucy said...

Like Hardy's 'Darkling thrush'.

Double glazing cuts them out rather.
It's a lovely poem,as ever.

Lucas said...

Many thanks for your comment. I love Hardy.