A shy and hidden bird

In the swamp, in secluded recesses,
A shy and hidden bird is warbling a song.

Solitary, the thrush,
The hermit, withdrawn to himself, avoiding the settlements,
Sings by himself a song.

- Walt Whitman, in When Lilacs Last in the Door-yard Bloom’d (Leaves of Grass)

Because my first and only other sighting of it some weeks back had been rather brief, I was thrilled to have a long and close look at the aptly-named Hermit Thrush today at the Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Reserve.

I had no idea how famous it is in American poetry. Besides the above quote, consider the following:

• A Hermit Thrush is the title of a beautiful poem by Amy Clampitt. (This link provides both the text and a recording where you can hear her read it herself).
  
  
• It is also the title of a poem by Henry Van Dyke, which I must confess is too treacly for my taste.
  
  
• It finds mention in T. S. Eliot's The Waste Land.
  
  
• The Hermit Thrush is the name of a collection of poems by Kathleen Millay, Edna's lesser-known youngest sister.