[syndicate] The Ducks of Cotton Mather

[jeff harrison]

THE WONDERS OF THE INVISIBLE WORLD 

the Laysan Teal has 
a dark head & neck, 
fourteen plumes (& 
seven are of gold), 
a white ring around 
the eye, a blurred blue 
ring around the bill, 

the same 

blurred blue ring around 
Cotton's incapable sleep 

thievish is the Laysan Teal, 
&, as such, surreptitious 

seven of the plumes: hopeless 
(the same that are of gold) 

the Laysan Teal resembles 
the female Mallard, but 
more reddish-brown 

* 

BRONTOLOGIA SACRA 

the female Mallard is 
mottled 
buffy-brown in color 
a pale eye-brow 
a dark stripe through the eye 

she peruses darkness 
her raptures are unprinted 
(raptures imperfectly corrupted) 

the male Mallard has 
a metallic-green head 
& neck separated from 
a purplish-brown breast 
by a white ring 

the same 

white ring around 
the Laysan Teal's eye 

their bodies generally go 
unburied, male & female 

* 

HUMILIATIONS FOLLOW'D WITH DELIVERANCES 

the Harlequin Duck (Histrionicus histrionicus) 
is the sole representative of its genus. it's 
marked like a harlequin & is also known as 
the Rock Duck, the Mountain Duck, the Squealer, 
& Lord and Lady. a mountain duck that frequents 
swiftly running streams. hunters often hang rhymes 
on their wings. always there's a line about rain-haunted 
skies. "Come, barren Graces", while improbable, is 
a traditional beginning to these rhymes. 

* 

NARRATIVES OF THE INDIAN WARS 

the Ruddy (Spine-tailed, Heavy-tailed, 
Quill-tail, Stiff-tail, Bristle-tail, Sleepy, 
Fool, Deaf, Shot-pouch, Daub, Stubble, 
Twist, Blather, Scoot, Hickory-head, 
Paddy, Noddy, Dinky, Hard-tack) Duck is 
equally fond of salt, brackish, & fresh water. 
its flight is rapid, with a whirring sound, 
occasioned by its wings' concave form. 
they ease to whatever the dawn requires. 

* 

A VOICE FROM HEAVEN 

tho web-footed, Mandarin Ducks 
have the power of perching. 

branches of trees overhanging ponds. 

the tunefulness of iron clasps. 

the Chinese, who use these ducks 
in marriage ceremonies, are loathe 
to part with them to visitors. 

Herr Bibliothekarius, in April 1836, wrote 
William Wormswork, "I could more easily 
send you two live Mandarins 
than a pair of Mandarin. Ducks." 

they are the only ducks that prefer captivity, 
"longing," in Herr B's words, "at the chains' clarion" 

 		
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