Bobolink: If Lowell had a favorite bird, it was the bobolink, by James Russell Lowell: Summary, Meaning & Analysis
This piece is a blend of prose and verse that celebrates the bobolink, a small songbird from North America that James Russell Lowell cherished more than any other.
The poem
although the oriole was a close competitor for his praises. In one of his letters he says: "I think the bobolink the best singer in the world, even undervaluing the lark and the nightingale in the comparison." And in another he writes: "That liquid tinkle of theirs is the true fountain of youth if one can only drink it with the right ears, and I always date the New Year from the day of my first draught. Messer Roberto di Lincoln, with his summer alb over his shoulders, is the true chorister for the bridals of earth and sky. There is no bird that seems to me so thoroughly happy as he, so void of all _arriere pensee_ about getting a livelihood. The robin sings matins and vespers somewhat conscientiously, it seems to me--makes a business of it and pipes as it were by the yard--but Bob squanders song like a poet." Compare the description in _Sunthin' in the Pastoral Line:_ "'Nuff said, June's bridesman, poet o' the year, Gladness on wings, the bobolink, is here; Half hid in tip-top apple-blooms he swings, Or climbs aginst the breeze with quiverin' wings, Or, givin' way to 't in a mock despair, Runs down, a brook o' laughter, thru the air." See also the opening lines of _Under the Willows_ for another description full of the ecstasy of both bird and poet. The two passages woven together appear in the essay _Cambridge Thirty Years Ago_, as a quotation. An early poem on _The Bobolink_, delightful and widely popular, was omitted from later editions of his poems by Lowell, perhaps because to his maturer taste the theme was too much moralized in his early manner. "Shelley and Wordsworth," says Mr. Brownell, "have not more worthily immortalized the skylark than Lowell has the bobolink, its New England congener."
This piece is a blend of prose and verse that celebrates the bobolink, a small songbird from North America that James Russell Lowell cherished more than any other. Lowell expresses, through his letters and poetry, that the bobolink sings not out of obligation but from sheer, uncontained joy — much like a true poet creates. It reads less like a single poem and more like a portrait of a man who saw in this bird the ultimate representation of creative happiness.
Line-by-line
I think the bobolink the best singer in the world, even undervaluing the lark and the nightingale in the comparison.
That liquid tinkle of theirs is the true fountain of youth if one can only drink it with the right ears...
Messer Roberto di Lincoln, with his summer alb over his shoulders, is the true chorister for the bridals of earth and sky.
The robin sings matins and vespers somewhat conscientiously, it seems to me--makes a business of it and pipes as it were by the yard--but Bob squanders song like a poet.
'Nuff said, June's bridesman, poet o' the year, / Gladness on wings, the bobolink, is here;
Half hid in tip-top apple-blooms he swings, / Or climbs aginst the breeze with quiverin' wings,
Or, givin' way to 't in a mock despair, / Runs down, a brook o' laughter, thru the air.
Tone & mood
Warm, celebratory, and subtly persuasive. Lowell passionately advocates — for this bird, for American nature, for a specific kind of joyful, unfiltered creativity — without coming across as preachy. His tone feels like that of someone who can’t help but share their love for the subject, and their enthusiasm is so contagious that you find yourself believing in it too.
Symbols & metaphors
- The bobolink — The bird represents the ideal poet: someone who creates from genuine abundance rather than duty or careful calculation. Its song is overflowing, joyful, and freely offered — just as Lowell believed great poetry should be.
- The fountain of youth — The bobolink's song is often likened to the famous fountain of youth, but according to Lowell, it only resonates with "the right ears." It represents renewal, accessible only to those who truly embrace the natural world.
- The robin — The robin acts as a foil, representing careful, disciplined, and professional effort. It sings "by the yard," mocking poetry that may be technically sound but lacks emotional depth. This contrast highlights what Lowell appreciates in the bobolink.
- The wedding / bridals of earth and sky — Spring is depicted as a marriage, with the bobolink acting as its officiant. This imagery connects the bird to themes of fertility, seasonal renewal, and the sacred union of the earthly and the celestial.
- The brook of laughter — The bobolink's descending song resembles a brook—natural, unstoppable, and shaped by the landscape around it. Laughter introduces a sense of playfulness and freedom.
Historical context
James Russell Lowell (1819–1891) was a poet, critic, and diplomat from Massachusetts who spent a significant part of his life in Cambridge, a place he cherished deeply. This piece draws from his letters and two of his longer poems—*Sunthin' in the Pastoral Line* (1862) and *Under the Willows* (1868)—both written during and after the Civil War years, a time when Lowell was also editing *The Atlantic Monthly*. He had a genuine obsession with the bobolink, a small blackbird known for its striking patterns and cheerful, metallic song that fills New England meadows in late spring. By favoring the bobolink over the European lark and nightingale, Lowell made a cultural statement, reflecting a broader 19th-century American movement to assert that the New World had its own natural wonders worthy of celebration in literature. Critic W. C. Brownell's comparison of Lowell to Shelley and Wordsworth, in terms of their skylark odes, firmly places him within that Romantic tradition of using birds as muses.
FAQ
The bobolink (*Dolichonyx oryzivorus*) is a migratory songbird from North America, famous for its unique, bubbling song that has an electronic quality. Lowell often heard this bird while wandering through the meadows of Cambridge, Massachusetts, and for him, it represented pure, effortless joy in creativity — a stark contrast to the obligations of formal poetry.
It can be considered both or neither in a strict sense. This piece is a prose commentary that incorporates verse passages from two of Lowell's longer poems. It resembles an annotated appreciation, similar to what you might find in 19th-century literary journals, where the distinctions between criticism, essays, and poetry were intentionally blurred.
He suggests that the bobolink gives more than necessary, more than what makes sense economically, simply out of an overflow of emotion. A craftsman measures precisely what is needed; a poet pours everything in. Lowell argues that true poetry isn't cautious — it’s generous to the point of being reckless.
"Bob o' Lincoln" is a traditional folk name for the bobolink, and Lowell humorously translates it into a mock-formal Italian to bestow a comical sense of dignity on the bird. "Messer" is an Italian term of respect, similar to "Master" or "Sir." This playful approach treats a small meadow bird with the same reverence you might show a nobleman from the Renaissance.
Lowell doesn’t make the comparison himself here — it’s critic W. C. Brownell who states that Lowell immortalized the bobolink just as Shelley and Wordsworth did with the skylark. This suggests that the bobolink is New England’s version of the skylark: a bird whose song appears to come from pure spirit rather than from any physical effort.
It captures a rural New England Yankee dialect — the same kind of speech Lowell used in the Biglow Papers, his well-known satirical verse series. Words like "'Nuff," "aginst," and "thru" are phonetic spellings that ground the poem in a particular place and social class, adding warmth and authenticity.
The text implies that he believed it was overly moralized—that his younger self had used the bird to convey a lesson instead of allowing the bird to exist as it is. Many poets reflect on their own work like this, removing pieces that come off as too earnest or too obvious as their skills develop.
Lowell often revisited the notion that New England's natural beauty holds as much spiritual and aesthetic value as anything found in European traditions. He was also deeply interested in understanding creativity — what distinguishes art that feels vibrant from art that seems mechanical. The bobolink allows him to delve into both themes simultaneously, using a tone that feels intimate rather than lofty.