Jerusalem

The image of a bird and its wings appear twice each in the poem. At first the father, as a boy, gets hit in the head when his friend throws a rock at a bird. The father, rather than reacting, grows “wings” (Line 15). Later a boy draws a picture of a bird that is covering two houses with its enormous wings. The bird has multiple connotations. It is a creature that is vulnerable, attracting the attention of people who throw stones at it for sport or food. However, it is also a symbol of resilience. It has wings which allow it to fly away from the violence of those who dwell on the land. It can transcend the heaviness of things like stones, war, and the gravity of life on Earth.

Traditionally, the dove is a symbol of peace. Though she does not name the bird as a dove, the bird and its wings do suggest peace, especially in the boy’s painting, in which the bird’s wings are covering two houses. A bird usually covers its young with its wings, especially at night and in a storm, to keep them safe. This image of a bird covering houses with its wings suggests a supernatural capacity to care for others, including two families—i.