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Something Told the Wild Geese
by Rachel Field
Something told the wild geese
It was time to go,
Though the fields lay golden
Something whispered, “snow.”
Leaves were green and stirring,
Berries, luster-glossed,
But beneath warm feathers
Something cautioned, “frost.”
All the sagging orchards
Steamed with amber spice,
But each wild breast stiffened
At remembered ice.
Something told the wild geese
It was time to fly,
Summer sun was on their wings,
Winter in their cry.
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I like to think that there’s an old goose always reminding the young geese about the future:
I really enjoy this poem. Field takes a familiar subject and injects it with a feeling of lurking danger.
Something Told the Wild Geese is a 16 line poem, divided up into four equal stanzas, each of which has an ABCB rhyme scheme. Almost the entire poem follows the same beat, with odd numbered lines containing 6 syllables (3 beats) and even numbered lines containing 5 (2.5 beats.) The exception to this is found in line 15, where the line includes seven syllables.
The poem utilizes several writing techniques, most notably to me the technique of repetition, wherein the word “something” is repeatedly throughout and with an increased sense of the ominous each time. Field also uses personification to great effect, with the geese feeling as though they are whispering, thinking, and worrying about what is to come. Field also made excellent use of alliteration, with g-starting words and s-starting words. Together they gave me a sense of the poem being nearly a ballad. The back and forth between teh two sounds make this a good work to read aloud.
Stanza One
Something told the wild geese
It was time to go.
Though the fields lay golden
Something whispered,—‘Snow.’
This stanza creates a sense of mystery. We are not told what “something” is. We are permitted to fill in that blank ourselves, with God, nature, or an old goose with some experience. The effect of the contrast between the mystery of “something” and the pleasant world described, the poem begins with a sense that a cataclysm is coming.
Stanza Two
Leaves were green and stirring,
Berries, luster-glossed,
But beneath warm feathers
Something cautioned,—‘Frost.’
This stanza repeats the warning of the first. Life is good around the geese, but good times will not last much longer.
Stanzas Three and Four
All the sagging orchards
Steamed with amber spice,
But each wild breast stiffened
At remembered ice.
Something told the wild geese
It was time to fly,—
Summer sun was on their wings,
Winter in their cry.
In stanza three, we see the transition. It’s no longer just “something” whispering to them from beyond. The geese themselves remember. (The North remembers!) In stanza four, memory leads to action. The geese are crying out, their wings are moving – even with summer still shining on them – and they are flying away before the winter arrives.
It is a fascinating thing to think of how this works. Birds that fly south for winter usually do so before the weather turns *really* cold. It’s as though something told them to do so.
For a great review of this poem, please let me direct you to the following:
I discovered this poem from a “Get Birding” account I follow on IG. The host is none other than Sean Bean! I highly recommend it. I didn’t know how much my life needed Sean Bean reading bird poetry to me until I was blessed with discovering that he does this.
