Yesterday evening I had a bit of a stroll, and I noticed that there were quite a few more swallows about. They darted and swooped, but mostly, and this was a bit odd, they also roosted a bit in tree limbs. I concluded that this was a flock that was resting as it migrated southward, … amid the yellowing leaves.
From the Laudator:
Charles Turner, The First Week in October, from his Small Tableaux (London: Macmillan and Co., 1868), p. 59:
Once on an autumn day as I reposed
Beneath a noon-beam, pallid yet not dull,
The branch above my head dipt itself full
Of that white sunshine momently, and closed;
While, ever and anon, the ashen keys
Dropt down beside the tarnished hollyhocks,
The scarlet crane’s-bill, and the faded stocks,—
Flung from the shuffling leafage by the breeze.
How wistfully I marked the year’s decay,
Forecasting all the dreary wind and rain;
‘Twas the last week the swallow would remain—
How jealously I watched his circling play!
A few brief hours, and he would dart away,
No more to turn upon himself again.
They know and accept, by instinct, that which we, are given the grace to choose. God’s Will. Not everyone, sees it as a grace. Yet.
It is poetic but poignant in reminding how ephemeral is our worldly pilgrimage. I was reflecting of this same subject today as I posted http://divine-ripples.blogspot.com/2010/10/think-of-this-and-youll-live-fully.html While heaven is our home, I still will grieve when it is my time to go – just like the swallows when they leave you in the Fall.
Swallows…….I can’t help thinking about “yan wo tan” (swallow’s nest soup)
I thought perhaps you were making a reference to Oscar Wilde’s wonderful short story “The Happy Prince.”
I have never seen swallows roost but whilst in Swansea, Wales I did see this bird roosting:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T46cnZNTNR0
A most Illustrious bird.
Having just commented on my own funeral in a previous post about vestment colors, I guess the ultimate migration is on a lot of minds today.
Perhaps the swallows–like those of us who frequent this blog–roosted near you because they found shelter, security, mystery, beauty, rest, nourishment, and welcome . . . .
Thank you for this beautiful interlude of poetry in the middle of my day, Father.
No swallows there, but I am SO missing central WI this time of year! This is the week of my birthday and around the first of the month I always become acutely aware that the year has slipped away again…but I so enjoy the beauty of autumn. The very word makes me wistful.
The swallows left this area weeks ago. It is so sad. I love them. Some used to “buzz” my big cat, if he got outside. I am afraid the birds are telling us we are in for a long, hard, winter, although today in Iowa, the temperature was 75F and tomorrow it is supposed to get up to 80F.