Tags
birding, birdwatching, British birds, Pied wagtail, Wagtail and Baby, Wagtail poem by Thomas Hardy
A baby watched a ford, whereto
A wagtail came for drinking;
A blaring bull went wading through,
The wagtail showed no shrinking.
A stallion splashed his way across,
The birdie nearly sinking;
He gave his plumes a twitch and toss,
And held his own unblinking.
Next saw the baby round the spot
A mongrel slowly slinking;
The wagtail gazed, but faltered not
In dip and sip and prinking.
A perfect gentleman then neared;
The wagtail, in a winking,
With terror rose and disappeared;
The baby fell a-thinking.
~ ‘Wagtail and baby’, Thomas Hardy (1840-1928), a comment on how the natural world is in harmony with itself but ‘with terror rose’ at the approach of man.
Well, humans are very scary. They even frighten me at times.
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Me too, Joyce. 😉
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