Home › B › Birds-Blackbird

Birds-Blackbird: Quotations from Cyclopedia of Practical Quotations

Great albatross! -the meanest birds Spring up and flit away, While thou must toil to gain a flight, And spread those pinions grey; But when they once are fairly poised, Far o'er each chirping thing Thou sailest wide to other lands, E'en sleeping on the wing.— CHAS. G. LELAND — Perseverando.

Bat. The sun was set; the night came on apace, And falling dews bewet around the place; The bat takes airy rounds on leathern wings, And the hoarse owl his woeful dirges sings.— GAY — Shepherd's Week. Wednesday;

or, The Dumps. Far different there from all that charm'd before, The various terrors of that horrid shore; * * * * * * Those matted woods where birds forget to sing, But silent bats in drowsy clusters cling.— GOLDSMITH — The Deserted Village. L. 345.

Ere the bat hath flown His cloister'd flight.— Shakespeare — Macbeth. Act III. Sc. 2. L. 40.

On the bat's back I do fly After summer merrily.— Shakespeare — Tempest. Act V. Sc. 1. L. 91.

Beach Bird. Thou little bird, thou dweller by the sea, Why takest thou its melancholy voice, And with that boding cry Along the waves dost thou fly? Oh! rather, bird, with me Through this fair land rejoice!— R. H. DANA — The Little Beach Bird.

Blackbird. The birds have ceased their songs, All save the blackbird, that from yon tall ash, 'Mid Pinkie's greenery, from his mellow throat, In adoration of the setting sun, Chants forth his evening hymn.— MOIR — An Evening Sketch.

Golden Bill! Golden Bill! Lo, the peep of day; All the air is cool and still, From the elm-tree on the hill, Chant away: Let thy loud and welcome lay Pour alway Few notes but strong.— MONTGOMERY — The Blackbird.

A slender young Blackbird built in a thorntree: A spruce little fellow as ever could be; His bill was so yellow, his feathers so black, So long was his tail, and so glossy his back, That good Mrs. B., who sat hatching her eggs, And only just left them to stretch her poor legs, And pick for a minute the worm she preferred, Thought there never was seen such a beautiful bird.— D. M. MULOCK — The Blackbird and the

Rooks. O Blackbird! sing me something well: While all the neighbors shoot thee round, I keep smooth plats of fruitful ground, Where thou may'st warble, eat and dwell.— TENNYSON — The Blackbird.

How sweet the harmonies of the afternoon! The Blackbird sings along the sunny breeze His ancient song of leaves, and summer boon; Rich breath of hayfields streams thro' whispering trees; And birds of morning trim their bustling wings, And listen fondly-while the Blackbird sings.— FREDERICK TENNYSON — The Blackbird.

Bluebird. "So the Bluebirds have contracted, have they, for a house? And a nest is under way for little Mr. Wren?" "Hush, dear, hush! Be quiet, dear! quiet as a mouse. These are weighty secrets, and we must whisper them."— SUSAN COOLIDGE — Secrets.

In the thickets and the meadows Piped the bluebird, the Owaissa. On the summit of the lodges Sang the robin, the Opechee. LONGFELLOw-Hiawatha. Pt. XXI. Whither away, Bluebird, Whither away? The blast is chill, yet in the upper sky Thou still canst find the color of thy wing, The hue of May. Warbler, why speed thy southern flight? ah, why, Thou too, whose song first told us of the Spring? Whither away?— E. C. STEDMAN — The Flight of the Birds.

Bobolink. Modest and shy as a nun is she; One weak chirp is her only note; Braggarts and prince of braggarts is he, Pouring boasts from his little throat.— BRYANT — Robert of Lincoln.