Read this when
The Conference of the Birds
Every bird had a perfect excuse not to go. Only thirty went, and found out what they were looking for was… them. 🐦
Who it's for
The poem is built like an encounter with resistance: the hoopoe calls the birds to seek their king, and one by one they make excuses (the nightingale can't leave the rose, the parrot wants immortality, the duck won't leave the water), and the hoopoe answers ea.
Feelings it meets
What it is
The Conference of the Birds is a Persian narrative poem in mathnawi form by Farid ud-Din Attar, composed around 1177. The birds of the world gather to find a sovereign, and the hoopoe, the wisest of them, urges them to seek the legendary Simorgh, while each bird stands for a human fault that blocks enlightenment.
Where to find it
Edward FitzGerald's 19th-century abridged version ('Bird-Parliament') is public domain and free online. Sholeh Wolpé's translation (Norton, 2017) and Darbandi & Davis's Penguin Classics translation (1.
Before you start
Heads up: Tales of self-destructive devotion.
Age: Ages 12+
I know why the caged bird sings, ah me,Paul Laurence Dunbar, “Sympathy”
