A Wikipedia article states: "The Dawn Chorus occurs when birds sing at the start of a new day. In temperate countries this is most noticeable in spring when the birds are either defending territory, trying to attract a mate, or calling in the flock."
The statement says nothing about the birds being happy, rather, just the nuts and bolts of life: defence, mating, nest building, food. But unless a body tends to irritability at the sound of robins disturbing sleep at 4:45 A.M - we might well find the sound of the Dawn Chorus to be pleasing - even delightful. We call it "singing" after all. Comedian Robin Williams said:
"You know what music is? God's little reminder that there's something else besides us in this universe; harmonic connection between all living beings, everywhere, even the stars."
At first, his sentence says that music links all the living beings, but then it goes even further by including the stars. The Prophet Baruch seems to have understood this, claiming poetically that the stars have a voice:
The stars shone in their watches, and were glad; he called them, and they said, "Here we are!" They shone with gladness for him who made them. Baruch 3: 34,35
One bird guide book says that towards the end of July the Dawn Chorus starts to quiet down, and by the first week of August, it is finished until next spring. The birds are around for awhile yet, but the business of mating and raising young birds is over for now. The birds will head south soon enough, and the morning will be quiet until next March or April.
So, there are these last days of the Dawn Chorus, and Robin Williams' invitation to see, even in bird song, a connection to all living things and even beyond. The psalmist doesn't want to be left out of the lovely thought and still more, claiming our own dawn as a time of songful-praise.
My heart is ready, O God;
I will sing, sing your praise.
Awake, my soul;
awake, lyre and harp.
I will awake the dawn.
Psalm 107
The statement says nothing about the birds being happy, rather, just the nuts and bolts of life: defence, mating, nest building, food. But unless a body tends to irritability at the sound of robins disturbing sleep at 4:45 A.M - we might well find the sound of the Dawn Chorus to be pleasing - even delightful. We call it "singing" after all. Comedian Robin Williams said:
"You know what music is? God's little reminder that there's something else besides us in this universe; harmonic connection between all living beings, everywhere, even the stars."
At first, his sentence says that music links all the living beings, but then it goes even further by including the stars. The Prophet Baruch seems to have understood this, claiming poetically that the stars have a voice:
The stars shone in their watches, and were glad; he called them, and they said, "Here we are!" They shone with gladness for him who made them. Baruch 3: 34,35
One bird guide book says that towards the end of July the Dawn Chorus starts to quiet down, and by the first week of August, it is finished until next spring. The birds are around for awhile yet, but the business of mating and raising young birds is over for now. The birds will head south soon enough, and the morning will be quiet until next March or April.
So, there are these last days of the Dawn Chorus, and Robin Williams' invitation to see, even in bird song, a connection to all living things and even beyond. The psalmist doesn't want to be left out of the lovely thought and still more, claiming our own dawn as a time of songful-praise.
My heart is ready, O God;
I will sing, sing your praise.
Awake, my soul;
awake, lyre and harp.
I will awake the dawn.
Psalm 107
