Poetry and Nature pt. 1

THE BOY AND THE SHRIKE

A boy fell in love with a shrike.
Fascination for the new - he heard
snatches from the hunter, wonderful things -
how many oaths he swore to take her.

He got, and instantly forgot her. The sad one,
hanging by the window in her cage,
cried alone, in silence, the sky
unreachable and distant.

He remembered her on a day
when, from boredom or visciousness, he wanted
to break her in his fist. The almost-bird
of prey wounded him and flew off. That day,

for that wound, he loved her without return.

Umberto Saba

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Umberto Saba lived and worked much of his life in Triest, Italy. The most common species of Shrike he would have most encountered was the Southern Gray Shrike, Lanius minor. The Shrikes are medium sized perching birds that prey on a variety of small animals, including mammals. They are often called "Butcher Birds" for their practice of impaling prey items on thorns and sharp branch ends, which they use either for storage or butchering the prey. Various species of Shrike occur throughout the world.





http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shrike