Wednesday, February 14, 2024

A Book of the Seasons, Signs of Spring: The Crowing of Cocks and the Cawing of Crows




No mortal is alert enough to be present at the first dawn of the spring. 

Henry Thoreau, March 17, 1857

Perhaps what most moves us in winter
is some reminiscence of far-off summer . . .
It is in the cawing of the crow, the crowing of the cock,
the warmth of the sun on our backs.
I hear faintly the cawing of a crow far, far away,
echoing from some unseen wood-side. What a delicious sound!
It is not merely crow calling to crow, for it speaks to me too.
I am part of one great creature with him; if he has voice,
I have ears. I can hear when he calls.


January 22. Crows . . . are heard cawing in pleasant, thawing winter weather, and their note is then a pulse by which you feel the quality of the air. January 22, 1860

January 30.  There are certain sounds invariably heard in warm and thawing days in winter, such as the crowing of cocks, the cawing of crows, and sometimes the gobbling of turkeys. January 30, 1860

February 8. Riordan's solitary cock, standing on such an icy snow-heap, feels the influence of the softened air, and the steam from patches of bare ground here and there, and has found his voice again. The warm air has thawed the music in his throat, and he crows lustily and unweariedly, his voice rising to the last.  February 8, 1857

February  8. A different sound comes to my ear now from iron rails which are struck, as from the cawing crows, etc. Sound is not abrupt, piercing, or rending, but softly sweet and musical. February 8, 1860

February 11. I thought it would be a thawing day by the sound, the peculiar sound, of cock-crowing in the morning. February 11, 1856

February 12. The eaves run fast on the south side of houses, and, as usual in this state of the air, the cawing of crows at a distance. February 12, 1855

February 14.The distant crowing of cocks and the divine harmony of the telegraph, — all spring-promising sounds. February 14, 1854

February 16. Sounds sweet and musical through this air, as crows, cocks, and striking on the rails at a distance. February 16, 1855

February 16. The sun is most pleasantly warm on my cheek; the melting snow shines in the ruts; the cocks crow more than usual in barns; my greatcoat is an incumbrance. February 16, 1856

February 23. There is a slight mist above the fields, through which the crowing of cocks sounds springlike. February 23, 1856

February 23. I have seen signs of the spring. February 23, 1857

February 24. I am reminded of spring by the quality of the air. The cock-crowing and even the telegraph harp prophesy it, even though the ground is for the most part covered by snow. February 24, 1852

March 2. We listen to the February cock-crowing and turkey-gobbling as to a first course, or prelude. March 2, 1859

March 4We stood still a few moments and listened to hear a spring bird. We heard only the jay screaming in the distance and the cawing of a crow. March 4, 1859

March 16.   The crowing of cocks and the cawing of crows tell the same story. The ice is soggy and dangerous to be walked on. March 16, 1858

March 22. The phenomena of an average March . . . About twenty-nine migratory birds arrive (including hawks and crows), and two or three more utter their spring notes and sounds, as nuthatch and chickadee, turkeys, and woodpecker tapping. March 22, 1860

See also Signs of the Spring:

 

  <<<<< Signs of Spring     Early Spring >>>>>



A Book of the Seasons, by Henry Thoreau, Signs of the Spring:  The crowing of cocks, the cawing of crows
A Book of the Seasons, by Henry Thoreau
"A book, each page written in its own season,
out-of-doors, in its own locality."
~edited, assembled and rewritten by zphx © 2009-2024


No comments:

Post a Comment

Popular Posts Last 30 Days.

The week ahead in Henry’s journal

The week ahead in Henry’s journal
A journal, a book that shall contain a record of all your joy.
"A stone fruit. Each one yields me a thought." ~ H. D. Thoreau, March 28, 1859


I sit on this rock
wrestling with the melody
that possesses me.