The question of song

Abstract

Still about 1200, we move from the epic struggle of a nation, and from the individual’s cosmic drama of eternal salvation or damnation, from love of country and love of God in the West Midlands, to an out-of-the-way corner of a valley in summer on the south coast of England, where in the person of a poet we overhear, among the blossoms, green leaves and branches, the song of a nightingale singing so vigorously that it might have come from harp or pipe. Nature is seen in terms of man. The poet is hearing a debate between a nightingale and an owl:

That playd wes stif and starc and strong!

debate [1.5]