Friday, July 29, 2016

The Oriol's Secret

Oriole, 8x8" Oil on Board, 2016
A few years ago when I would walk through our neighborhood, I noticed there Baltimore Orioles.  But we had none in our yard.  Up went an Oriole feeder and voila!  They began to appear.  This year we are fairly certain they nested in our yard because we heard their beautiful voices all day long coming from our trees.  Emily Dickenson writes in her Nature, Poem12, The Oriole's Secret.

To hear an oriole sing
May be a common thing,
Or only a divine.

It is not of the bird
Who sings the same, unheard,
As unto crowd.

The fashion of the ear
Attireth that it hear
In dun or fair.

So whether it be rune,
Or whether it be none,
Is of within;

The "tune is in the tree,"
The sceptic showeth me;
"No, sir! In thee!"