Birds, vibrant and mystifying creatures of nature, have always found their quaint niche in the realm of English literature. Their roles soar beyond their ornithological reality and venture into the territory of allegorical representations and profound symbolism.

In some literary works, birds are depicted as the embodiment of freedom. They are often seen metaphorically entwined with the theme of liberty and uninhibited existence that the human spirit yearns for. For instance, the book full of coloured pictures of birds found by Nicholas in the short story “Lumber Room” by Hector Hugh Munro suggests the child’s yearning for freedom.

English literature also paints birds as harbingers of change, transition, and power. One such idea is found in Alfred Lord Tennyson’s poem, “The Eagle”. The poem embodies the life of a raptor bird, alluding to the mythological Acuila, the eagle that carried the thunderbolts of Zeus. 

Furthermore, birds, with their ability to ascend towards the heavens, have been symbolically correlated with spiritual quests and enlightenment. Their celestial journeys are illustrated as paths leading to divine wisdom and knowledge. This is seen in Junji Kinoshita’s drama  Yūzuru (Twlight Crane), when a crane transforms into a human and attempts to pay its debt to a poor farmer who saves it from a poacher.

In many instances, different species of birds serve as loaded representations of various human emotions. The nightingale, for instance, frequently appears as a symbol of melancholy, sorrow, and the discontinuation of love. In the short story “Nightingale and the Rose,” Oscar Wilde effectively uses a nightingale as an element of a fairytale to criticise the human world.