Bright Wings:
An Illustrated Anthology of
Poems About Birds
Edited by Billy Collins; Paintings by David Allen Sibley.
Columbia University Press, 2009.
ISBN: 978-0-231-15084-2. 288
pages, 7. 3 x 5. 8 inches, $22.95,
hardcover.
Not surprisingly for a book
edited by a two-time U.S. Poet
Laureate and illustrated by a
man who could be an Ornithology Laureate, if there were such
a thing, Bright Wings: An Illustrated Anthology of Poems About
Birds is a little gem. The book
begins with a six-page introduction by the editor, Billy Collins,
who briefly summarizes the history of birds in poems. Our feathered friends have made appearances in poetry throughout the
history of the genre, as emblems,
myths, symbols, and simply as
themselves.
The poems selected for this
anthology are not the standard fare
that might also be found in collections of best-loved verse—no
“Hope is the thing with feathers”
from Emily Dickinson, or Poe’s
raven. Instead, there are pieces
from many poets who might
surprise you—for instance, John
Updike and D.H. Lawrence, who
are more famous for their prose.
The topics, too, are not what
you might expect after reading the
title. For instance, the first poem
is not about a bird at all, but about
John James Audubon, while the
final poem is about bird watchers. In between are over 100 other
poems describing, musing on, and
alluding to birds—in taxonomic
order, no less. Each poem or set
of poems about a genus or species is accompanied by a beautiful full-color Sibley illustration
