Birdwatcher's Song
Birdwatcher's Song - context Summary
Published in 1946 Paroles
Published in 1946 in the collection Paroles, this short lyric by Jacques Prévert appears at a pivotal moment in his career when Paroles brought wide readership. The poem repeatedly invokes a single bird image to suggest a child's vulnerable inner life; its simple, iterative phrasing turns outward description into intimate address. The final lines identify the bird as a heart beating against the breast, shifting the image from observation to bodily feeling. Noting its publication and placement in Paroles helps readers situate the poem’s plainspoken voice within Prévert’s postwar work.
Read Complete AnalysesThe bird that flies so gently the bird red and warm as blood the bird so soft the bird that mimics the bird who is suddenly afraid the bird who suddenly hits himself the bird who would like to fly away the bird panicked and alone the bird who would like to live the bird who would like to sing the bird who would like to cry out the bird red and warm as blood the bird who flies so gently it’s your heart pretty child your heart that beats its wings so sadly against your breast so strong so white.
Feel free to be first to leave comment.