10 May 2013

Birdsong is good for the mind.


Random sounds in birdsong work on our brain to soothe the hectic rush.



Far too often noise takes away your concentration—loud television, people talking at the top of their voices and the sound of constant traffic. But audio experts say certain sounds make it easier to focus. They include birdsong, which stimulates the mind and relaxes the body. 

 This has come about because, over thousands of years, people have grasped that when birds sing, they are safe.
The nightingale has probably the most celebrated song, with John Keats describing the bird pouring forth thy soul abroad in such an ecstasy! in his 1819 Ode to a Nightingale.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge's 1798 poem The Nightingale reads: And hark! the Nightingale begins its song. "Most musical, most melancholy" bird!... so his song should make all Nature lovelier, and itself be loved like Nature!
William Wordsworth wrote the skylark's babbling song dost pour upon the world a flood of harmony in his 1805 verse To a Skylark.
I wrote this poem in my garden several years ago.

UNGRASPED MELODY


The sound tickling my brain
Releasing remembered pain
With ungrasped melody there
At the back, under my hair.

Music made by nearby birds
Although by my ears it's heard
It strokes parts contained within
Tweaking inside with a pin.

Ecstasy for all to feel
Not through chemicals, but real
Pay attention and you'll hear
Every birdsong that is near.

So many different notes
All put forth from tiny throats
Composed in alien ways
Seem to burst forth in relays.

Each note strikes a different part
Of my brain and of my heart
The same feeling that's perceived
When huge fireworks are achieved.

The birdsong lulls me to relax
Pushing out all thoughts that tax
Snatches of memory drift
Other patterns of time shift.
Birdsong works because it's made up of lots of random sounds. There is no repeating rhythm or pattern to focus on. There is no other sound that can achieve the same thing as birdsong on our brain. Make it part of the soundtrack to your day.
 

 

11 comments:

  1. Lovely poem and I like to listen to birdsong as well.

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  2. Interesting. I usually write with the TV on, but the sound is on low.

    Hugs and chocolate,
    Shelly

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  3. I have my office window open as I write this. Birdsong drowns out everything else.

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  4. Neat poem. Indeed, I'll generally sit outside without music playing,etc. and just listen. Other than noisy mockingbirds, most birdsongs are pleasant.

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  5. Hi Francene .. love the poem and birds bring so much pleasure to our lives - I hear them early in the morning before dawn has come .. but they are really active now. I just hope there's enough countryside and variety for all species to survive ..

    I usually write without any noise in the background .. just the birds if the window is open .. cheers Hilary

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  6. Some are nice, though I've never felt safe when hearing them sing. Some are really annoying, like when they wake you up or make so much noise if we're trying to have drinks or something outside. Have never understood how some people can write poetry...words don't come out that way for me.
    Looking Back

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  7. I love bird song, I used to have several cd's of bird song that I used to play when I relaxed

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  8. I love birdsong. I love birds. I will never hear a nightingale, though, unless I travel over to Europe from my native United States. What I do love is mockingbirds, which drive a lot of people crazy, but there is just something about them. I never thought about birdsong signaling safety but it makes a lot of sense.

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  9. We have so many lovely birds by our home and frequently feed and house them. I believe as you do they supply us with natures beautiful songs.

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  10. Hey Francene! Thanks for sharing that lovely poem. I wanted you to know that I nominated you for The Very Inspiring Blogger award! http://bev-thebevelededge.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-very-inspiring-blogger-award.html#links
    I hope you'll accept it and spread the love!

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