# Sweet quotes that remind you of your birdie friends?



## Hollen

Hi everybirdie! I was rereading some parts of "The Little Prince" by Antoine de Saint- Exupery, and found the conversations between the prince and the fox to be very special this time around. When Bubbles came to us, it was so different from Spiral, who had been "hand fed." We had to earn Bubbles' trust through time, patience, and gentleness. He trembled in his cage for weeks. We joked with each other that every new sight and sound probably made him think, "This is the part where they EAT ME!!" It was hard for Alex to understand-Spiral was on his hand from day one. Why was Bubbles different? He had to learn patience and empathy, and think of Bubbles' needs before his. 

Reading that, someone might wonder why anyone would choose a parent raised chick. Of course there are so many reasons, but there have been some really surprising, precious benefits to having to go through this taming process. Here it is in a nutshell: he chose us! When Bubbles began voluntarily hopping on our fingers, venturing onto our shoulders, and giving us hesitant little preening nibbles, he was choosing us as his flock and family! He was given the freedom and respect to choose, and we feel so grateful and honored to have his trust. I know you all understand the thrill of being trusted.

Reading "The Little Prince", here were some quotes that captured me in a different way...

"No," said the little prince. "I am looking for friends. What does that mean--'tame'?"

"It is an act too often neglected," said the fox. It means to establish ties."

"'To establish ties'?"

"Just that," said the fox. "To me, you are still nothing more than a little boy who is just like a hundred thousand other little boys. And I have no need of you. And you, on your part, have no need of me. To you, I am nothing more than a fox like a hundred thousand other foxes. But if you tame me, then we shall need each other. To me, you will be unique in all the world. To you, I shall be unique in all the world . . ."

Here is another one:

"What must I do, to tame you?" asked the little prince.

"You must be very patient," replied the fox. "First you will sit down at a little distance from me--like that--in the grass. I shall look at you out of the corner of my eye, and you will say nothing. Words are the source of misunderstandings. But you will sit a little closer to me, every day . . ."

I love those! They almost made my heart hurt a little in how sweet those words are. I love poems and quotes like this. Are there special stories, poems, verses or quotes that remind you of your relationships with your special animal friends? I would love to read them:001_wub:


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## Greyjoy

The Roman poet Catullus writes a couple of poems about his mistresses' pet sparrow that I love. I often refer to my birds as "passer deliciae" which translates to darling sparrows. My favourite line is "...the sparrow my lady's pet, Whom she loves more than her own eyes; for honey-sweet he was, and knew his mistress as well as a girl knows her own mother. Nor would he stir from her lap, but hopping now here, now there, would still chirp to his mistress alone..." The thing I loved most about learning Latin was how similar they felt about their pets as we do in modern times. Even the words used in the original Latin mimic the playfulness of pet birds.


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## Hollen

Kristina, I love that!! That was totally new to me. I love how the love between the sparrow and mistress was captured. Our family is in the process of learning Latin, and now I'm excited- I want to be able to read that poem!


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## Greyjoy

http://www.vroma.org/~hwalker/VRomaCatullus/002.html http://www.vroma.org/~hwalker/VRomaCatullus/003.html These are links to the poems. The english is right next to the latin so you can see what is what. I'm really excited that your family is learning latin!


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## DamonsMaster

Ancient Romans were very fond of their household pets. Women, especially had pet birds and many were taught to speak. The poet Ovid wrote an ode in memory of his mistress' pet parrot whom she adored. It it, he speaks of the afterlife that the parrot is now enjoying (echoes of Rainbow Bridge).

"There in Elysium, on a hillside's gentle slope, there stands a forest of broad shady oaks and over the moist soil, the rich grass spreads its coverlet of green.Here...........abide all innocent birds and here no fowl of evil omen ever comes. Here in these pleasant woody places, our parrot speaks and calls around him all birds of gentle soul.....".

Good luck with your Latin studies Hollen. I've been learning Latin now for 5 years and will continue it this year at uni.My Damon Bird speaks many Latin phrases as I constantly played the tapes in our room as I studied.Latin is an amazingly beautiful language. Your studies will open up a whole new world for you.


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## Hollen

My son is working on a classical ed curriculum, and I was kind of worried about Latin- I'm going to have to learn it with him as he goes. At this stage, we are memorizing declensions and conjugations, to prepare for the more intense studies beginning in middle school. You guys are really encouraging me! DamonsMaster, that really is like our idea of the Rainbow Bridge! How neat:001_smile:


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## StarlingWings

Great thread, Leslie! How cool that Alex (and Bubbles ) are learning Latin, I love Latin and think it is a fascinating language.

As for a special bird quote, I know that this pushes the idea of a quote a bit too far since it's a whole poem, but I couldn't resist 

This poem, called "The Darkling Thrush", is by Thomas Hardy and talks about a little bird in the most lovely way. The speaker of the poem, who is depressed and at odds with the world, finds happiness in the fact that the thrush is still singing happily, although the day is gray. I truly think it conveys the light and love that our little birds bring to us every day, no matter what has happened.

The Darkling Thrush 
BY THOMAS HARDY
I leant upon a coppice gate 
When Frost was spectre-grey, 
And Winter's dregs made desolate 
The weakening eye of day. 
The tangled bine-stems scored the sky 
Like strings of broken lyres, 
And all mankind that haunted nigh 
Had sought their household fires.

The land's sharp features seemed to be 
The Century's corpse outleant, 
His crypt the cloudy canopy, 
The wind his death-lament. 
The ancient pulse of germ and birth 
Was shrunken hard and dry, 
And every spirit upon earth 
Seemed fervourless as I.

At once a voice arose among 
The bleak twigs overhead 
In a full-hearted evensong 
Of joy illimited; 
An aged thrush, frail, gaunt, and small, 
In blast-beruffled plume, 
Had chosen thus to fling his soul 
Upon the growing gloom.

So little cause for carolings 
Of such ecstatic sound 
Was written on terrestrial things 
Afar or nigh around, 
That I could think there trembled through 
His happy good-night air 
Some blessed Hope, whereof he knew 
And I was unaware.

Thanks to https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poems/detail/44325 for the poem transcript!​


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## Hollen

Oh my gosh, thank you! I absolutely love the Hardy poem- I'm so glad you put the whole poem in the thread. Not only is it beautiful, it's one of those that is just fun to read out loud because of how it sounds. I love the imagery of a bird singing "flinging its soul" onto its surroundings. 
Whenever I meet people who love birds, or read of cultures that treasured them, I feel such a connection with that little bit of humanity. These poems are making me remember that a love for nature and birds is as old as mankind! I never thought much about ancient people and their pets, and I love thinking about a little thrush inspiring beautiful words from Thomas Hardy:001_wub:


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