John Clare’s “Birds in Alarm” details how different birds react when boys come near their nests. The firetail tweets and darts away, broadcasting the danger. The yellowhammer, though, flees in total silence—boys steal her eggs daily, yet she keeps laying as if nothing were lost. The nightingale churrs persistently until the nest is discovered, then goes quiet. The pewit cries “chewrit” and flops about the shepherd, feigning injury to draw him off; once the nest is found, she stops and simply runs with her crested head cocked. Wrens chatter and cock their tails, while robins call “tut” and vanish. The speaker never states an opinion, but the long list of small, anxious gestures builds a mood of intimate tension and sympathy. The birds are watchful, resourceful, and terribly vulnerable. That quiet, repeated loss—especially the yellowhammer’s oblivious persistence—gives the poem a gentle ache, a sense of life stubbornly renewing itself at the edge of inevitable harm.
Birds in Alarm — Summary
The firetail tells the boys when nests are nigh And tweets and flies from every passer-bye. The yellowhammer never makes a noise But flies in silence from the noisy boys; The boys will come and take them every day, And still she lays as none were ta'en away.
The nightingale keeps tweeting-churring round But leaves in silence when the nest is found. The pewit hollos "chewrit" as she flies And flops about the shepherd where he lies; But when her nest is found she stops her song And cocks [her] coppled crown and runs along. Wrens cock their tails and chitter loud and play, And robins hollo "tut" and fly away.