Nature is something to be felt rather than known, it has an essential wildness that defies being caged and classified.
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In the great circle of nature there are no lines or boundaries between living things. Even between the animate and the inanimate worlds.
This is something that the poets have always known – they feel the essence of nature and set her free through their words. The ecologist on the other hand tries to classify, categorize and to place nature within discreet units.
Yesterday when standing on top of the mountain I heard that most familiar of all bird calls; cuc-koo, a simple and utterly familiar disyllabic note.
Yet how often do we actually see this elusive wanderer? The cuckoo is famously elusive, that is what they are! It is the essence of this bird beyond any reductionist description.
The poets knew this and was there ever a better description of the cuckoo than that by Wordsworth:
“Should I call thee bird, or but a wandering voice”
He knew….
Feature Photo: ▲ARTwear.ch▼/Flickr