Blokes and birds - look at them, phwoar, I mean, soar

Sorry to disappoint. This blog is literally about birds and more importantly their symbolism in texts. Like most teachers, I like to pull a thread and see where it leads me to. Recently, I have been teaching ‘Romeo and Juliet’ again and I got to the following section: 

JULIET
  1   Wilt thou be gone? it is not yet near day:
  2   It was the nightingale, and not the lark,
  3   That pierced the fearful hollow of thine ear;
  4   Nightly she sings on yon pomegranate-tree:
  5   Believe me, love, it was the nightingale.

      ROMEO
  6   It was the lark, the herald of the morn,
  7   No nightingale. Look, love, what envious streaks
  8   Do lace the severing clouds in yonder east.

9   Night's candles are burnt out, and jocund day
 10   Stands tiptoe on the misty mountain tops.
 11   I must be gone and live, or stay and die.

The thread I wanted to explore was the choice of nightingale and lark here. So, I pulled and pulled the thread to see where it took me. In the classroom, the students found a YouTube video showing a lark and a nightingale singing. Surprisingly, they lasted hours and the students were amazed with how many views the videos had received so far. We decided on the following points. 

Point 1: The nightingale’s song is more pleasing to the ear than the lark’s song.

Point 2: The nightingale is physically more attractive than the lark.

Of course, we related this to the way that Romeo and Juliet are presented in the play. Juliet is the ‘sun’ and beautiful and teaches the ‘torches to burn bright’. Romeo is presented as course. A pilgrim to a Juliet’s saint.

Then, I did a little bit of digging about the two birds, following that thread. I found out the following points about larks. 

Point 3: Larks announce the start of the day. 

Point 4: Larks only sing when they fly, unlike most birds.

Point 5: Larks are good mimics.

Point three is an obvious point as we have two birds symbolising different parts of the day. Nightingale represents the night and the lark represents the day. But, more interesting, is the fact that the lark was often associated with the arrival of day. So, the lark isn’t necessarily about the day, but the morning. This is ironic given the short life of Romeo – he doesn’t live a full metaphorical life / day. However, if the quote is emphasising the morning elements and Romeo’s fear of being discovered, then why didn’t William Shakespeare use a cockerel? After all, isn’t a cockerel a better symbol to show morning?

My theory is that a cockerel is too masculine and probably a better symbol to represent Paris. A lark is less masculine and less likely to cause conflict than a cockerel, as the play explores the relationship between love and hate. Romeo shows the human capacity to love and hate, but also the possibility of having more love than hate in a person.

Point 4 for me was interesting. Larks only sing when they fly. Of course, singing and flying can be associated with happiness and love. More interesting for me was the fact that a lark only sings when it flies. This does reflect the play. The language Romeo uses when he is in love reflects this subtle change. We can cite the use of sonnet form when they first meet to support this.

There is a strong mercurial theme in the play so Point 5 was pertinent. Of course, we have Mercutio, but the lark is like mercury as it can change and isn’t constant. Yet, I hadn’t always thought of Romeo as being very mercurial. But, he is. Like the lark, he changes his song depending on the context. Look how quickly he ends up mimicking the way Tybalt speaks in their conflict.

Point 6: Nightingales sing during the night and day.

Point 7: Nocturnal songs are primarily used to attract a mate.

Point 6, in a way, contradicts what we naturally think the quote is about. Nightingales don’t only sing during the night. So, the division between night and day isn’t so clear.  But, what is clear, is that Juliet is clearly linked to the nocturnal song to attract a mate. That’s what she is doing here, attracting him to stay. The lark announces it is time to start something new, whereas the nightingale is enticing him to stay attached to her.

Point 8: Larks have been used to symbolise Christ in literature and art

Now, this is quite an interesting aspect, because we can link it to so many aspects linked to Christianity.

·         Jesus in the desert fasting for forty days and forty nights – Romeo is going to leave to fast in the wilderness
·         Satan attempting to temp Jesus in the desert – Juliet is tempting Romeo to leave the desert
·         Redemption and resurrection – Romeo is to metaphorically die to return (reborn) to Verona

Point 9: Nightingales are seen as a symbol of the link between life and death. 

Point 10: Nightingales are seen as a symbol of freedom from the world’s troubles. 

Aside from the obvious link to femininity through the association with the night and the moon, it seems to associate Juliet with death and our ‘death marked love’ and temptation. Is the use of a nightingale foreshadowing Romeo’s death? Or, is it something more subtle? Maybe, it is a reference to his symbolic death or banishment. The symbol of freedom is reflected her in her tempting him to stay. For Romeo to move, he’d have to face the world’s troubles, yet staying in the bedroom is freedom from worry, fear and unhappiness. The nightingale’s call is that beautiful it makes someone forget the reality of things.

At the moment, I have yet to explore the eating habits of the two birds, but I am sure I will get to some complex symbolism linked to their eating habits at some point. In the meantime, here’s a table that I have cobbled together from different sources to use with students. It isn’t finished and there’s more to add, but it is a start.

	Interesting points	Symbolism	Connection
Blackbird	Smaller than crows and ravens	Darkness of sin Temptation of sin (song)	Christianity: Saint Benedict was distracted in an attempt to tempt him by the Devil in the form of a blackbird
Cockerel	Male Capon is a castrated cockerel	Early morning Being alert Vigilance Ready to fight Pride Masculinity Souls awakening and response to God’s grace – Christianity	Bible: Jesus foretold Peter’s denial, at the Last Supper, of Christ three times before the cockerel crowed
Crow	Considered to be one of the most intelligent animals	Adultery / wicked thoughts Devil’s henchmen	Greek myth: princess Arne was bribed with gold by King Minos of Crete and was punished for her avarice by being transformed into an equally avaricious jackdaw, which still seeks shiny things
Dove	Dove and pigeon similar – dove tends to be a smaller species and pigeon a larger species Make fairly flimsy nests out of twigs	A soul Soul of the departed Searching Love Peace Messenger Holy Spirit / God’s word – Christianity  Self-indulgent / slothful – pigeon	Bible: Noah sent out a dove to find land after the floods. Doves were used in sacrifice if a family were poor and couldn’t afford to sacrifice cattle or livestock. Dove represented the Third Person of the Blessed Trinity Apostles were often portrayed as doves in art.
Eagle	Rarely seen in the sky Live in mountains or high trees Extremely protective of their young	Height Action Strength Authority Power Protection Faith and consistency Link between Heaven and Earth Salvation / Resurrection – Christianity	Roman myth:  eagle carried the souls of emperors to the Goods. Greek myth: eagle supplied the thunderbolts for Zeus
Falcon	Strong, powerful eyesight	Vision Freedom Victory Nobility Link between Heaven and Earth Unconverted, materialistic soul – Christianity  Wild falcon – evil thoughts Domesticated falcon – conversion to Christianity
Goose	Monogamous – living as a permeant pair  throughout the year	Providence Vigilance Simplicity Home A selfless soul	Christianity: symbol of Saint Cerbonius
Hawk	Sharp vision Thought to be able to stare into the sun	Power Light Royalty  Watchfulness Heaven War Sun – close to the sun Masculine
Lark	Sing while they fly- unlike most birds Very good mimics of other birds	Daybreak Christ in Renaissance period
Nightingale	Sings at night  and during the day Known for their powerful songs Only unpaired males sing regularly at night Nocturnal songs are to attract a mate	Night (therefore moon and femininity) Connection between love and death Beauty Freedom Freedom from the world’s troubles	Greek myth: Philomel (Philomela) transformed into a nightingale to protect her from death
Owl	Nocturnal	Night (therefore moon and femininity) Wisdom of the soul Foreshadows death (European legend) Satan	Greek myth: symbol of Athena and an owl sat on Athena’s blind side, so she could see the whole truth. An owl guarded the Acropolis
Partridge		Church Truth Deceit Theft Devil	Greek myth: partridge does  not build a nest in trees or high places as a result of Daedalus threw his nephew, Perdix, off a hill
Peacock	Believed that the flesh of a peacock couldn’t rot	Immortality Watchfulness White peacock- narcissism, vanity, pride
Pelican	Believed that the pelican would injure itself to feed its dying young	Christ and the resurrection Pride
Raven	Very little difference with crow, apart from size	Devil Solitude Clumsy Ignorance – colour of the feathers / lack of sweet song Death Illness	Christianity: ravens have been presented favourably and have helped feed numerous saints in a time of need. Raven was one of three birds sent from the ark to search for life; it failed to return. Judaism: Legend that its once white plumage turned black because it failed to return to the ark
Robin	Not fearful of humans and males tend to be very territorial	Spring Hope Renewal New beginning Caged robin – removal from God’s grace	Christianity: Legend tells how the robin protected the young Christ and received the red breast from the sparks of fire from the attack
Sparrow		Lowest / weakest in society A caged sparrow – impending death
Stork	Prefer drying habitats unlike herons	Prudence Vigilance Piety Chastity Coming of spring
Swallow		Incarnation Resurrection - hides itself in mud in the winter and appears in the spring	Christianity: Swallow was one of three birds sent from the ark to search for life; it failed to find dry land and returned to the ark.
Swan	Believed that swans released a beautiful song when they died	Loyalty Strength Chastity Rebirth / transformation  – Ugly Duckling	Greek myth: Aphrodite viewed the swan as sacred because of its beauty and Apollo viewed it as sacred because of its song Christianity: a swan befriended Saint Hugh of Lincoln and kept watch on him as he slept
Woodpecker		Devil – undermines the health of trees Heresy

Note: For Christianity, birds were often associated with the soul ascending to God and moving beyond the material world

Further reading and sources:

http://catholicism.org/birds-are-used-as-christian-symbols.html
http://www.godweb.org/morebirds.htm
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02576b.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corvus

Thanks for reading,

Xris

P.S. Sorry, there are no pictures of birds. And, no ducks.