|
Written by fellpony
|
|
19 November 2007 |
An apostrophe; despite their reputation as robbers and murderers, I have a sneaking liking for magpies.
Flimsy bird, disjointed
Clumsy bird, absurd, stealing eggs
And brightness; shrewd,
Raucous, vain and handsome bird,
Glossy and iridescent;
Alone and ill-omened,
Why must you fly
Tumbling across my window view
All winter solitary?
Find a mate, and be
No longer one for sorrow,
But two for mirth.
|
maggot pies and choughs
Written by patterjack (1314 comments posted) 19th November 2007 | OUR maggies are handsome birds with lovely songs . I have had them feed from my hand . One old lady used to bring her young along to the feast as well .
I second your admiration if the English bird is anyhing really like ours
patterjack |
Written by Josie (2823 comments posted) 19th November 2007 | | The English magpie is not the same bird as the Australian magpie. Quite different and not liked by most people. It is the bird that kills all the baby ducks on our lake. Yet it is very beautiful, but its cackling laugh when it is hunting is blood curdling. We hear it a lot. It takes young birds - even when they are quite big. One dropped a young blackbird by mistake, and when a woman picked it up to save it, the magpie attacked her and made her arm bleed. Its cousin is the Jay, a similarly cruel but beautiful bird. |
Written by fellpony (1647 comments posted) 19th November 2007 | They are very striking birds and not surprisingly have attracted superstitious habits and verses. People used to salute them by taking off their hats when they saw them. It's not uncommon for country people to count how many they see on a journey and relate the number to one of several versions of magpie rhymes (which I refer to in my poem):
One for sorrow, two for mirth,
Three for a wedding, four for a birth,
Five for silver, six for gold,
Seven for a secret never to be told.
The Scottish version goes further:
One for sorrow, two for mirth,
Three for a wedding, four for a birth,
Five for plenty, six for dearth;
Seven's heaven, eight's hell
and nine's the De'il his ain sel'. |
Written by Phil (6828 comments posted) 19th November 2007 | They do have a rather unpleasant cackle - but striking birds they are. Brave too. The only birds around here that will go close to the cat - when he's eating a kill.
Enjoyed it. Liked the internal rhyme in the second line.
Phil
| =)
Written by no1butClo (338 comments posted) 23rd November 2007 | My nickname is Magpie for various reasons; this poem made me smile! They're mischevious little b*ggers but I like them.
Loved the last stanza especially.
thanks, clo x |
Written by jacksprat (1 comments posted) 16th July 2008 | Like the line 'alone and ill-omened', I can see more than one meaning in there.
It did remind me of the time I saw over twenty magpies in a field which had recently been muck-spread. Thinking of the 'one for sorrow' rhyme I asked my husband what twenty magpies meant. His reply was 'Target practice'. |
Only registered users can rate and write comments.
Please login or register. Powered by AkoComment 2.0! |
Previous item
