House Sparrows

  Still a bit sad here. I think the other dogs seem a bit subdued as well. We are still coming to appreciate what a towering presence and forceful personality Shaun had, despite his size. Our weather as been quite good, especially by comparison with the rest of the country and world. We have been around zero without a lot of snow. It is snowing today however and it made for a slippery walk where it covered the ice. I took these photos a couple of weeks ago when we had blue skies and a lot of sun. We have been getting lots of sparrows, drawn by the seed, suet and water. At one point it seemed that there were fewer sparrows and more house finches but the ration seems to have changed again. Although they are common, oft overlooked birds, a close look in good light does reveal their beautiful colours and delicate markings. 

'The only sparrows I heard

I was told were the ones

other people had brought"

"the sparrows said one thing

but only to themselves

and each other"

"over and over they said

here here 

yes here"

from Only Sparrows

by W.S. Merwin

"At the hour when the swallow, close to dawn

begins to sing her melancholy lays

perhaps remembering her ancient woes,"

and when our mind, far straying from the flesh,

less tangled in the network of its thoughts,

becomes somehow prophetic in its dreams,

dreaming I seem to see hovering above,
a golden-feathered eagle in the sky,
with wings outspread, ready to swoop down:"

from Canto IX, Dante's Purgatory

translated by Mark Musa

One of the fun parts of reading Dante's Comedy is that you can

speculate, based on what ever criteria you like, which of the

countless translations are the best. So I am offering the same 

passage from two, one in poetry one in prose. The Barn Swallow was 

photographed from the living room window there are nest on either 

side of it. The branch is about 8 feet away. The window opens out and

when the window is open the swallow often perches on the top edge of

the window it's back to the room. This entertains the cat and we are just

happy we have a screen.

"At the hour, near dawn, when the swallow  begins her sad songs, 

in memory, perhaps, of her former pain, and when the mind is 

almost prophetic, more of a wanderer from the body, and less 

imprisoned by thought, I imagined I saw an eagle, in a dream, 

poised in the sky, on outspread wings, with golden plumage, 

and intent to swoop." 

from Canto IX, Dante's Purgatory

translated by Charle S. Singleton