BIRDS AND POETS 5 
of a troop of gray plovers in an autumnal morning, 
without feeling an elevation of soul like the enthu- 
siasm of devotion or poetry.” 
Even the Greek minor poets, the swarm of them 
that are represented in the Greek Anthology, rarely 
make affectionate mention of the birds, except per- 
haps Sappho, whom Ben Jonson makes speak of the 
nightingale as — 
“The dear glad angel of the spring.’’ 
The cicada, the locust, and the grasshopper are 
often referred to, but rarely by name any of the 
common birds. That Greek grasshopper must have 
been a wonderful creature. He was a sacred object 
in Greece, and is spoken of by the poets as a charm- 
ing songster. What we would say of birds the 
Greek said of this favorite insect. When Socrates 
and Phedrus came to the fountain shaded by the 
plane-tree, where they had their famous discourse, 
Socrates said: ‘‘Observe the freshness of the spot, 
how charming and very delightful it is, and how 
summer-like and shrill it sounds from the choir of 
grasshoppers.” One of the poets in the Anthology 
finds a grasshopper struggling in a spider’s web, 
which he releases with the words: — 
“Go safe and free with your sweet voice of song.” 
Another one makes the insect say to a rustic whe 
had captured him: — 
“Me, the Nymphs’ wayside minstrel whose sweet note 
O’er sultry hill is heard, and shady grove to float.’’ 
Still another sings how a grasshopper took the place 
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