Dawn Song - Emily Dickinson

BirdNote^®

Dawn Song – Emily Dickinson

Written by Frances Wood

This is BirdNote! [Mixture of birds calling at dawn]

One of the magical gifts of spring is to hear the dawn song. As early morning light extinguishes the stars, as the first rays of sunlight fill the trees, male birds begin to pour out their songs. Warblers… , sparrows…, chickadees…, thrushes…, finches…, wrens…, blackbirds… [Repeat dawn song, building to a full boisterous sound]

While the awe and majesty of this symphony at dawn are hard to convey, poet Emily Dickinson, described it this way:   

     The birds begun at four o’clock—
     Their period for dawn—
     A music numerous as space
     And measureless as noon.

     I could not count their force,
     Their voices did expend
     As brook by brook bestows itself
     To magnify the pond.

     Their witnesses were not,
     Except occasional man
     In homely industry arrayed
     To overtake the morn.

     Nor was it for applause
     That I could ascertain,
     But independent ecstasy
     Of Deity and Men. [More dawn song] 

For BirdNote, I’m Mary McCann.

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Dawn Chorus (Dawn at Carnation Marsh, WA during April) provided by: Martyn Stewart at Naturesound.org 
BirdNote's theme music was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and produced by John Kessler.
Producer: John Kessler
Executive Producer: Chris Peterson / Dominic Black
© 2015 Tune In to Nature.org     Revised for March 2017. March 2019 / 2020/2022

ID # 032105dawnKPLU    edickinson-01b-2009-04-07-MM

Species: Dark-eyed Junco (repeated trilling); Red-breasted Sapsucker (early drumming); Pileated Woodpecker (call); Song Sparrow; White-crowned Sparrow; and Black-headed Grosbeak.