Birds and Poets

Birdsong gives John Burroughs a way to bring natural history and literary criticism into the same conversation. In these essays, he considers how the eye and ear of an observer resemble those of a poet. Audubon and Wilson appear alongside Keats, Shelley and other writers as Burroughs follows the connections between a bird's voice, its flight and the feelings it stirs. His comparisons range from the nightingale's song to the harsher calls of hawks, gulls and migrating geese.

The collection also turns toward spring, rural life and literary figures, including Emerson and Walt Whitman. A discussion of cows moves from their grazing habits and agricultural value to familiar sayings and differences in temperament within a herd. This mixture of close observation and personal reflection makes the book useful for readers interested in how nineteenth-century American essays connect everyday encounters with animals to the reading of poetry.