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Ruffed Grouse, by John James Audubon
W. H. Auden

W. H. Auden

Bird-Language
Trying to understand the words
Uttered on all sides by birds,
I recognize in what I hear
Noises that betoken fear.
 
Thought some of them, I’m certain, must
Stand for rage, bravado, lust,
All other notes that birds employ
Sound like synonyms for joy.

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