SPARROW
13th January 2024
Photo Credit: hfoxfoto (Getty Images), CANVA
Not a whit. We defy augury.
There is a special providence in the fall of a sparrow.
If it be now, ‘tis not to come; if it be not to come, it will be now;
If it be not now yet it will come.
The readiness is all. Since no man of aught he leaves knows,
what is ‘t to leave betimes? Let be.
HAMLET: Hamlet, Act 5, Scene 2
SPARROW (House Sparrow: Passer domesticus)
Hamlet’s Sparrow expresses the fragility and unpredictability of life and all that may come to the most humble or the highest. Sparrows are frequent visitors to Shakespeare’s works and are included in 11 plays and poems. They often act as metaphors for humbleness, unimportant because of their size and commonness.
Sparrows are found in most parts of the world living alongside human communities, and sometimes as pets, and it is no surprise that they are found in a wide range of literature and myth around the world.
Sparrows are found in the texts of the Bible. The Geneva Bible, which was one of the most commonly used Bibles during Shakespeare’s life, has more references to Sparrows than the later King James Bible (1611). This is particularly in Leviticus Chapter 14 which describes the spiritual cleansing of a house which has suffered plague or leprosy. The Geneva Bible version of Leviticus 14:52 is, “so shall he cleanse the house with the blood of the sparrow, and with the pure water, and with the live sparrow, and with the cedarwood, and with the hyssop, and with the scarlet lace”, but in the later King James version it is “and he shall clense the house with the blood of the bird”. Both Bibles contain several New Testament verses related to Sparrows and Hamlet’s quote has echoes of Matthew 10:29-31, “Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing, and one of them shall not fall to the ground without your father? Yea, and all the hairs of your head are numbered. Fear ye not therefore. Ye are of more value than many sparrows.”
The New Testament references highlighting that even the most humble creature, the Sparrow, is worthy of God’s notice and the use of a dead Sparrow in ritual cleansing of a corrupted place in the Old Testament Leviticus, could be relevant to the Hamlet quote above. Hugh de Fouilly’s book on the spiritual aspects of different birds devotes several chapters to the spiritual significance of the Sparrow and they were also included in medieval Bestiaries.
House Sparrows are very sociable and vocal birds which are resident year round in the UK. For a bird which has been a metaphor for commonness and abundance the House Sparrow has suffered sharp recent declines in Britain. House Sparrows declined by over 70% in numbers from 1977 to 2008 in both urban and rural areas. Their numbers have increased slightly since then in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Perhaps there is a warning for us all about the decline of a common species in Shakespeare’s line?
More Information
Badke, D. The Medieval Bestiary: The Sparrow
Birdlife Birdzone: Passer domesticus
British Trust for Ornithology (BTO): House Sparrow, Dunnock or Hedge Sparrow, Tree Sparrow
Clark, W.B., 1992, The Medieval Book of Birds, Hugh of Fouilloy’s Aviarium (accessed via Archive.org)
Geneva Bible (1599 edition): accessed via Bible Gateway
King James Bible (1611): accessed via kingjamesbibleonline.org
Perseus Digital Library: Sparrow
