Young male sparrowhawk by Laurence Rose As the two organisations point out in their publicity to get young poets writing about nature, this is the time of year in which Tennyson’s phrase “Nature, red in tooth and claw” seems more than usually apt.
The challenge is for poets aged 25 and under to write a poem about birds – anything to do with them. The YPN and RSPB suggest entrants read a 2009 article by Adam O’Riordan, about the enduring importance of birds to poets.
The challenge is for poets aged 25 and under to write a poem about birds – anything to do with them. The YPN and RSPB suggest entrants read a 2009 article by Adam O’Riordan, about the enduring importance of birds to poets.
Why are poets so fascinated by birds?
O’Riordan provides a succinct survey starting with The Seafarer, the Anglo-Saxon poem of spiritual longing and exile. In it, birds become “astringent emblems of solitude” as earthly pleasures are traded for the "the gannet's noise and the voice of the curlew" while the laughter of men is replaced by "the singing gull".
In the Sixties, Ted Hughes found in birds the symbols of his own concerns, first in the shining, terrible, power of The Hawk in the Rain whose "wings hold all creation in a weightless quiet" and later going as far as to forge his own gospel story in Crow.
In the Sixties, Ted Hughes found in birds the symbols of his own concerns, first in the shining, terrible, power of The Hawk in the Rain whose "wings hold all creation in a weightless quiet" and later going as far as to forge his own gospel story in Crow.
| For Seamus Heaney the blackbird becomes a bridge to memory of his young brother's death in Blackbird of Glanmore "on the grass when I arrive / filling the stillness with life.” The competition deadline is Sunday 1 February 2015. Entries may be a page poem written down, or a performance poem as a video or as an audio file. |  Andreas Eichler creativecommons.org via Wikimedia Commons |
One suggested source of inspiration is the RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch. To get involved, just pick an hour over the weekend of 24-25 January 2015 and go online to report what you see.
RSS Feed
