The impression I always get from Messaien is that he wasn't so much working
*with birdsong as *in it. That takes an extremely precise ear. I mean, I can
distinguish the notes of some of the simpler bird songs, but I'd never be
able to catch hold of most of them sufficiently accurately to transfer them
to musical notation.
Intensity does I think require accuracy, or most of the power is wasted.
joanna
----- Original Message -----
From: "Peter Cudmore" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Saturday, March 11, 2006 4:15 AM
Subject: Re: help--translation query
> Feral macaws is just too majestic a concept.
>
> I wanted to ask, apropos an earlier thread, whether anyone could point to
> a
> poet working in birdsong and birdlore with the same kind of intensity that
> Messiaen brought to music?
>
> P
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Poetryetc provides a venue for a dialogue relating to
>> poetry and poetics [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
>> Behalf Of Joanna Boulter
>> Sent: 10 March 2006 23:16
>> To: [log in to unmask]
>> Subject: Re: help--translation query
>>
>> To my mind, there's no bird to beat the English blackbird,
>> for song and handsome looks; Shakespeare's "ousel-cock so
>> black of hue / With orange tawny bill". But it's a strange
>> thing -- I've lived in various parts of this country, from
>> the south-west to the north-east where we are now, and I'll
>> swear those blackbirds make regional variations in their song.
>>
>> By the way, there's a flock of feral macaws up in the dales
>> about 30 miles from here. I saw them once, and it seemed a
>> huge and magical privilege, like being visited by strangers
>> from another planet.
>>
>> joanna
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Jill Jones" <[log in to unmask]>
>> To: <[log in to unmask]>
>> Sent: Friday, March 10, 2006 10:56 PM
>> Subject: Re: help--translation query
>>
>>
>> > Hi Mark,
>> >
>> > Yes, I guess they are noisy. Never thought of it but now I recall,
>> > European cities seem so much quieter on the bird front.
>> >
>> > Last night I came home as a whole pile (flock?) of parrots
>> - most likely
>> > lorrikeets - were squawking in the tree across the road,
>> just on dusk.
>> >
>> > In our garden, we had magpies nesting in the jacaranda one
>> year, until
>> > they found out that it lost its leaves and therefore their
>> cover, so they
>> > went back to the more traditional and evergreen gum tree
>> two doors up. But
>> > they visit us all the time (and shit on our paving). We
>> also get nearly
>> > everyday or seasonally, said parrots (lorrikeets and rosellas),
>> > currawongs, new holland honeyeaters, welcome swallows,
>> silvereyes (such
>> > lovely little birds), the australian ravens we call crows.
>> Even a sacred
>> > kingfisher once. Also, unfortunately, all the pesky exotics such as
>> > sparrows, starlings, pigeons and noisy mynahs.
>> >
>> > Some of the above, and others, are mentioned on this site,
>> including some
>> > of their noisy calls: http://www.anbg.gov.au/birds/birds.html
>> >
>> > So, can get real noisy.
>> >
>> > Is it 'ruffle' their feathers?
>> >
>> > And 'having a lend'? To have someone on, take the piss.
>> >
>> > Cheers,
>> > Jill
>> >
>> > On Saturday, March 11, 2006, at 01:37 AM, Jill Jones wrote:
>> >
>> >> Hi Mark,
>> >>
>> >> First of all, what's a grackle? I assume you're not having a lend.
>> >>
>> >> But I would be interested in the correct name for the term
>> as well. There
>> >> does seem to be a thing about poets and birds.
>> >>
>> >> I'm a lazy bird watcher myself and rarely know the correct
>> word for
>> >> ornithological things. But I notice them all the same.
>> Tonight, there was
>> >> a real racket across the street as I was coming home, ooh,
>> about 7ish.
>> >> Most likely parrots of some kind. I couldn't see them but
>> they were,
>> >> obviously, apparent.
>> >>
>> >> Cheers,
>> >> Jill
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> On Saturday, March 11, 2006, at 01:06 AM, Mark Weiss wrote:
>> >>
>> >>> OK, I need some feedback from birdwatchers. In the winter
>> birds puff out
>> >>> their feathers fro warmth. Is there/are there a
>> term/terms for this?
>> >>> From the scientific to the colloquial.
>> >>>
>> >>> I realize this question is likely to inspire some general
>> levity, not to
>> >>> say tom-foolery (origin?), which I'd appreciate as much
>> as the next
>> >>> guy/gal, but I really could use the help on this one.
>> >>>
>> >>> A tribeof grackles has taken up residence in the park outside my
>> >>> window--maybe 25 males. Quiet so far--probably waiting
>> for a critical
>> >>> mass to build up. Oh lucky me.
>> >>>
>> >>> Mark
>> >>
>> >> _______________________________________________________
>> >> Jill Jones
>> >>
>> >> Latest books:
>> >> Broken/Open. Available from Salt Publishing
>> >> http://www.saltpublishing.com/books/smp/1844710416.htm
>> >>
>> >> Where the Sea Burns. Wagtail Series. Picaro Press
>> >> PO Box 853, Warners Bay, NSW, 2282. [log in to unmask]
>> >>
>> >> Struggle and radiance: ten commentaries (Wild Honey Press)
>> >> http://www.wildhoneypress.com
>> >>
>> >> web site: http://homepages.ihug.com.au/~jpjones
>> >> blog1: Ruby Street http://rubystreet.blogspot.com/
>> >> blog2: Latitudes http://itudes.blogspot.com/
>> >>
>> >>
>> > _______________________________________________________
>> > Jill Jones
>> >
>> > Latest books:
>> > Broken/Open. Available from Salt Publishing
>> > http://www.saltpublishing.com/books/smp/1844710416.htm
>> >
>> > Where the Sea Burns. Wagtail Series. Picaro Press
>> > PO Box 853, Warners Bay, NSW, 2282. [log in to unmask]
>> >
>> > Struggle and radiance: ten commentaries (Wild Honey Press)
>> > http://www.wildhoneypress.com
>> >
>> > web site: http://homepages.ihug.com.au/~jpjones
>> > blog1: Ruby Street http://rubystreet.blogspot.com/
>> > blog2: Latitudes http://itudes.blogspot.com/
>>
>
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