I've been considering what kind of inspiration it takes to write 30+ poems about birds. Due to our frequent discussions on meter, particularly since we started reading Clare, I couldn't help but think of modern French composer Oliver Messiaen. Messiaen is an amateur birdwatcher whom transcribes the melodies of various bird calls and then incorporates them into his music.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkKrD9knBvU&feature=relatedBoth of these men seem to share an obsession with birds, to the point that they can produce prolific amounts of art about them. Clare's poems definitely have a musical quality to them - for proof recall James reading "Ramblings" put to a melody in class last week. Since Clare seems to have an exponential amount of poems about birds compared to every other animal, and since Clare's poetry has musical sensibility, I'm suggesting that maybe the natural musical quality of birds contributed to this.
I've been thinking about this too--especially in realtion to how Clare uses sound in his poems. Could we consider the relationship between his replication of bird sounds (in "The Firetail's Nest" for example) and the poetic devices he uses?
ReplyDeleteExpanding upon Luke's initial question, I believe Clare is taking a deep dive into nature through birds. Specifically, we have talked about the dynamism of nature (i.e. there is neither a singular definition of nature nor a linear relationship to man). Multiple poem about birds structurally compliments such an argument as Clare is describing/discussing birds in myriad formats that, when combined, form a clearer picture of avian nature.
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