Hitchcockean: The Bird Inside Us All Ella Scammell 11th Grade

Symmons Roberts presents to us the idea of primal instinct and savagery which still is a part of human nature; he is comparing our natural demeanour to that of birds. The poem is obviously not about birds attacking people despite the link to the Hitchcock film ‘The Birds’, but is about the soul, the feelings and the gut instinct and doing ‘what your heart tells you to do’. It is suggesting that we each have a type of ‘bird’ inside of us, and that we may or may not discover what it exactly is, we just know of its’ existence.

The first stanza of the poem creates a sinister and uncomfortable feeling, as the midline full stop in the first line gives an unexpected and dramatic impact and is then followed by the almost disturbing imagery of ‘chittering’ birds.The idea of these birds watching you and ‘chittering’ gives the speaker slight discomfort as the sinister childlike tone brings thoughts of paranoia and unease. The imagery of these birds is developed further in the third line when they are described as having ‘red-ringed, sink-hole eyes’, giving the picture of evil in their deep dark eyes. This makes the speaker feel immediate discomfort, and they will further discover that the poem is suggesting this evil is in fact a part of...