Landscape Notes

Birds are a beacon of hope in the landscape. I think this is because they can fly, which suggests escape from trouble and freedom from problems. It is also that they sing; even in times of great distress they may still flute out a song, in praise of what? In a verse from the poem “Hope is the thing with feathers" Emily Dickinson uses the imagery of a bird's continuous song to represent the eternal hope we all look for: "Hope is the thing with feathers, That perches in the soul, And sings the tune without the words - And never stops - at all".