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Hummingbirds are a symbol of healing, love, and joy.
Their delicate beauty and mesmerizing movements have inspired countless poets throughout the ages to capture their essence in verse.
Hummingbird poems can be humorous, inspirational, short, long, rhyming, and even written for kids.
These poems on hummingbird can also explore themes of death, spirit, and love, making them a versatile genre that touches on the many facets of human experience.
You May Also Be Interested In:
Funny Hummingbird Poems
Interesting poems about hummingbird can be a lighthearted way to celebrate and cherish the quirky, rapid movements of these tiny birds.
1. The Humming-Bird
by Richard Burton
Is it a monster bee,
Or is it a midget bird,
Or yet an air-born mystery
That now yon marigold has stirred,
And now on vocal wing
To a neighbor bloom is whirred,
In an aery ecstasy, in a passion of pilfering?
Ah! ’tis the humming-bird,
Rich-coated one,
Ruby-throated one,
That is not chosen for song,
But throws its whole rapt sprite
Into the secrets of flowers
The summer days along,
Into most odorous hours,
Into a murmurous sound of wings too swift for sight!
2. Hummingbird Love
by Tanya Harrington
Whirling, twirling lovers fly
Falling through the tree tops high.
Taking hold with all their might
Swirling love, alive in flight.
Floating down upon the breeze
Spinning round like maple seeds.
Holding tight, not letting go
Nearly touching down below,
Pulling free, then giving chase
Longing for another taste.
Calling out their sweethearts tune
Hoping for another boon.
Pairing up, one more time,
Sipping nectar so divine!
3. Hummingbird
by Paul Geiger
Hummingbird sits, rests
Manzanita twig tight gripped
Brilliant throat flashes
4. Lonesome Nightingale
by John Beharry
lonesome nightingale
serenades the airwaves
searching for his soul mate
lone pelican gliding
against the evening sky
so effortlessly
blown in with the wind
hummingbird nuzzles a bloom
and is blown away again
5. Whew
by George Aul
Flower flaps all day!!
The life of a hummingbird…
not easy, is it?
6. Love Storm
by Ankit Dedha
My hummingbird found me
A cactus i used to be
Instead she wrapped around me
she kissed my deep buried heart
Rose petals surround me
All around me
All around me
I am a dancing flower now
Dancing On the beats
Of her cute fluttering sound…
Famous Hummingbird Poems
Throughout history, many famous poets have been inspired by the beauty and grace of hummingbirds, leading to some of the most iconic famous poems about hummingbird to describe these fascinating creatures.
1. Humming-Bird
by Alexander Wilson
When the morning dawns, and the blest sun again
Lifts his red glories from the eastern main,
Then thro’ our woodbines, wet with glittering dews,
The flower-fed humming-bird his round pursues;
Sips, with inserted tube, the honey’d blooms,
And chirps his gratitude as round he roams;
While richest roses, tho’ in crimson drest,
Shrink from the splendor of his gorgeous breast.
What heavenly tints in mingling radiance fly,
Each rapid movement gives a different dye;
Like scales of burnish’d gold they dazzling show,
Now sink to shade — now like a furnace glow!
2. The Humming-Bird
by Ira Billman
So small and fair;
A sun-dyed dew-drop born with wings.
‘Neath Salvia’s coral cup it swings,
And to the winded flower clings
As if grown there.
So neat and fair;
An artist’s dream of loveliness —
Its form charms thro’ a gauze-like dress
Of rapid wings, that one might guess
Was wrought of air.
So wise and fair;
A poet’s thought that lives by stealth,
From honeyed cups it drinks its health,
With too much joy for making wealth
To purchase care.
So true and fair;
Each change without affects its coat;
A fire bell blazes on its throat;
Yet still it chirps the one clear note
Blown everywhere!
So sweet and fair;
Its mellow hum hath magic powers.
To wake to life dead summer hours —
Fond memories fresh as fragrant flowers,
In winter bare.
3. Worry of Winter
by Mark Van Loan
birds love the cozy place
that rests on the shores of the lake
and simmering summer days
when the feeder is plum full
the hummingbirds beat endless
drums while song birds hum
their misty morning praise,
scattering seed skins below
seven twitchy goldfinch swooped in
and wrestled for feeding rights,
each one a tiny fluttering sun of drama
with wings thrashing in the still dawn
soon summer sounds will soften into autumn,
the lake will rest in cool foliage relief,
golden orange reflections will wander the shores
with the worry of winter in limb and leaf
4. Humming-Bird
Why do you stand on the air
And no sun shining?
How can you hold yourself so still
On raindrops sliding?
They change and fall, they are not steady,
But you do not know they are gone.
Is there a silver wire
I cannot see?
Is the wind your perch?
Raindrops slide down your little shoulders . . .
They do not wet you:
I think you are not real
In your green feathers!
You are not a humming-bird at all
Standing on air above the garden!
I dreamed you the way I dream fairies,
Or the flower I lost yesterday!
5. Hummingbirds
by Anonymous
H ave you ever enticed a hummingbird,
U nited in flight and the sounds so heard.
M akes my heart flutter as they draw near,
M aking a little noise saying thankyou in my ear.
I n the rush of the day I place a flower in my hair,
N ice of them to drop by for they are so aware.
G iving me delight as they suckle from the flower indeed,
B eautiful they are and so very sweet.
I so love their buzzing sound as I get a close look this day,
R ight before my eyes and their colors on such a brilliant display.
D id you know their nests are like a sock made of cotton indeed,
S o delecate are the birds brings paradise for me.
6. To a Humming-Bird
by John Vance Cheney
Voyager on golden air,
Type of all that’s fleet and fair,
Incarnate gem,
Live diadem
Bird-beam of the summer day, —
Whither on your sunny way?
Loveliest of all lovely things,
Roses open to your wings;
Each gentle breast
Would give you rest;
Stay, forget lost Paradise,
Star-bird fallen from happy skies.
Vanished! Earth is not his home;
Onward, onward must he roam
Swift passion-thought,
In rapture wrought,
Issue of the soul’s desire,
Plumed with beauty and with fire.
Inspirational Hummingbird Poems
Inspirational poems about hummingbird can also be a source of inspiration, reminding us to stay present, appreciate the beauty around us, and keep pushing forward in the face of challenges.
1. The Hummingbird
by Ivan Swift
When langourous noons entreat the summer sky,
And restive spirits vex the ways of men
In vain emprise; within my garden then
Will I elect to let the world go by,
And watch the hummingbird. Not seen to fly,
He comes and vanishes and comes again
And sips the sweets of honeysuckles when
Their lips are frail―but leaves them not to die.
So I have thought how good it were to be
This ruthful corsair, bent on such pursuit,
Against the wear of my foreplanning hours:―
How good it were to live thus liegelessly
Upon the world’s unreekoned blossom-lute―
Yet spare from any harm its guarded flowers!
2. Dream Hummingbird
by Jennifer Fay
The ruby-throated hummingbird
is fastly beating wings
outside near the purple hostas
as it buzzes by my window.
I’m enthralled with all
its vibrant colors,
it must be the male
who lingers in floral beauty
drinking nectar
from God’s flowers.
As I look upon this hummingbird,
I think I’ve heard
the chirp.
Thinking of this lone hummingbird,
I’ll wanted along vast corridors
inside my mind,
searching for
the hummingbird jewelry box
of some dream I had
long ago.
“Dearest hummingbird,
where did you go?
Perhaps into a world not your own?”
I said.
Once, in a dream,
I saw hummingbirds
fly off with my writer’s words.
So now,
when I vow
to see the hummingbird,
I wonder if it’s
blessing me
with the words I wanted to say.
“Hummingbird, stay.”
3. The Humming-Bird
by Laura M. Marquand
There is a silence in this summer day,
And in the sweet, soft air no faintest sound
But gentle breezes passing on their way,
Just stirring phantom branches on the ground;
While in between the softly moving leaves,
Down to their shadows on the grass below,
The brilliant sunshine finds its way and weaves
A thousand patterns glancing to and fro.
A peace ineffable, a beauty rare
Holds human hearts with touch we know divine.
When, hush! — a little tumult in the air;
A rush of tiny wings, a something, fine
And frail, darting in fiery haste, all free
In every motion; scarce we’ve seen or heard
Ere it is gone! How can such swiftness be
Incarnate in an atom of a bird!
To know this mite, one instant poised in space,
Scarce tangible, yet seen, then vanishing
From out our ken, leaving no slightest trace!
Ah, whither gone, you glowing jewelled thing?
Before you came the very air seemed stilled;
More silent now because with wonder filled.
4. To a Ruby-Throated Humming-Bird
by Laura Blackburn
Aristocrat of birds (thy summer spent
Near Arctic snows, thy winter passed beside
The tropic seas thou and thy dainty bride),
How thou must scorn the zone where we are pent.
Fearless darter through the blue firmament,
I bid thee hail, and here denounce the pride
That in man’s heart, like Caliban, doth hide,
Whilst thou upon thy Ariel quests art bent.
Alas! for all the cravings of the soul,
We only in imagination soar,
Only in dreams we taste ambrosial sweets;
But thou, O bird, commander of thy goal,
Dost quaff thy wine within the bright retreats
Of joy, and fold thy wings at Beauty’s door.
5. The Humming-Bird
by Maurice Thompson
Poised in a sheeny mist
Of the dust of bloom,
Clasped to the poppy’s breast and kissed,
Baptized in violet perfume
From foot to plume!
Zephyr loves thy wings
Above all lovable things,
And brings them gifts with rapturous murmurings:
Thine is the golden reach of blooming hours;
Spirit of flowers!
Music follows thee,
And, continually,
Thy life is changed and sweetened happily,
Having no more than roseleaf shade of gloom,
O bird of bloom!
Thou art a wingèd thought
Of tropical hours,
With all the tropic’s rare bloom-splendor fraught,
Surcharged with beauty’s indefinable powers,
Angel of flowers!
Short Hummingbird Poems
Sometimes a few words are all it takes to capture the magic of a hummingbird in flight, making short poetries about hummingbird a great choice for celebrating these amazing creatures.
1. The Humming Bird
by Edwin Markham
Tell me, O Rose, what thing it is
That now appears, now vanishes?
Surely it took its fire-green hue
From daybreaks that it glittered through;
Quick, for this sparkle of the dawn
Glints through the garden and is gone!
What was the message, Rose, what word:
Delight foretold, or hope deferred
2. Humming-Bird
by T.A. Conrad
Thou tiny spirit of the air,
With sylph-like motion, glad and free;
Who can thy meteor presence spare,
Whose childhood passed near thee?
For near our door thou lov’st to dip
Thy bill in the bignonia’s bloom
And of its nectar juices sip
‘Mid summer’s choice perfume.
3. Tiniest Birds of Charm
by Anonymous
hummingbirds charm all
who view their fluttering wings
bright colors in flight
4. The Hummingbird’s Orchid
by Jemmy Farmer
The tantalizing bloom, her beauty rare,
That tempts the hummingbird to stop and stare,
With glist’ning desire upon her lips blush,
To bring a shady red in wanton flush.
Like hungered hearts the two at last combine,
In this, the place, that love and lust entwine.
Dark promises of more to come and yet
For now in pleasure their needs are met.
Oh sweet, the pink orchid that teases me,
Her hummingbird to set her passion free.
5. Dreams
by Langston Hughes
Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.
Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow.
6. Beauty of a Hummingbird
by Greg Stanley
She’s floating on air
Hums softly swallows nectar
Dashes to her nest
Long Hummingbird Poems
Long poetries about hummingbird can delve deeper into their significance, exploring their relationship to nature, to humans, and to the wider world.
1. The Humming-Bird
by Mary Howitt
The humming-bird! the humming-bird!
So fairy-like and bright:
It lives among the sunny flowers,
A creature of delight!
In the radiant islands of the East,
Where fragrant spices grow,
A thousand, thousand humming-birds
Go glancing to and fro.
Like living fires they flit about,
Scarce larger than a bee,
Among the broad palmetto leaves,
And through the fan-palm tree.
And in those wild and verdant woods,
Where stately mosses tower,
Where hangs from branching tree to tree
The scarlet passion flower;
Where on the mighty river banks,
La Plate and Amazon,
The cayman, like an old tree trunk,
Lies basking in the sun;
There builds her nest the humming-bird,
Within the ancient wood –
Her nest of silky cotton down –
And rears her tiny brood.
She hangs it to a slender twig,
Where waves it light and free,
As the campanero tolls his song,
And rocks the mighty tree.
All crimson is her shining breast,
Like to the red, red rose;
Her wing is the changeful green and blue
That the neck of the peacock shows.
Thou, happy, happy humming-bird,
No winter round thee lours;
Thou never saw’st a leafless tree,
Nor land without sweet flowers.
A reign of summer joyfulness
To thee for life is given;
Thy food, the honey from the flower,
Thy drink, the dew from heaven!
2. Summer Story
by Mary Oliver
When the hummingbird
sinks its face
into the trumpet vine,
into the funnels
of the blossoms
and the tongue
leaps out
and throbs,
I am scorched
to realize once again
how many small, available things
are in this world
that aren’t
pieces of gold
or power——-
that nobody owns
or could but even
for a hillside of money—–
that just float
in the world,
or drift over the fields,
or into the gardens,
and into the tents of the vines,
and now here I am
spending my time,
as the saying goes,
watching until the watching turns into feeling,
so that I feel I am myself
a small bird with a terrible hunger,
with a thin beak probing and dipping
and a heart that races so fast
it is only a heartbeat ahead of breaking——
and I am the hunger and the assuagement,
and also I am the leaves and the blossoms,
and, like them, I am full of delight, and shaking.
3. Anna’s Hummingbird
by Anonymous
The smallest birds in the world
Live large inside my heart
I love watching them in flight
Can I tell them apart?
Hover, flutter, flap your wings
And let your song be heard
So small yet so beautiful
The Anna’s hummingbird
Watch their wings do awesome things
Flapping at breakneck speed
Front to back or up and down
Every time that they feed
Sweet, sweet nectar fills their bills
And insects are a treat
Most don’t have a sense of smell
They look for what to eat
I’ve seen them in my back yard
Early morning is best
If you see a hummingbird
Consider yourself blessed
Fascinating in design
They’re an amazing sight
Flying backwards, upside-down
A birdwatcher’s delight
They don’t walk, they perch on trees
And build a little nest
Hear the hums when a flock comes
My feeder passed the test
They like water with sugar
Maybe they chirped the words
To the others in their group
Of Anna’s hummingbirds
Who knew that this humble bird
Could transcend all that’s small?
Hummingbirds inspire me
Winter, spring, summer, fall
Who knew that this tiny bird
Could fly with such short wings?
See the Anna’s hummingbird
And see impressive things
4. The Humming-Bird
by Anonymous
Emerald-plumèd, ruby-throated,
Flashing like a fair star
Where the humid, dew-becoated,
Sun-illumined blossoms are —
See the fleet humming-bird!
Hark to his humming, heard
Loud as the whirr of a fairy king’s car!
Sightliest, sprightliest, lightest, and brightest one,
Child of the summer sun,
Shining afar!
Brave little humming-bird!
Every eye blesses thee;
Sunlight caresses thee,
Forest and field are the fairest for thee,
Blooms, at thy coming stirred,
Bend on each brittle stem,
Nod to the little gem,
Bow to the humming-bird, frolic and free.
Now around the woodbine hovering
Now the morning-glory covering,
Now the honeysuckle sipping,
Now the sweet clematis tipping,
Now into the bluebell dipping;
Hither, thither, flashing, bright’ning,
Like a streak of emerald lightning;
Round the box, with milk-white phlox;
Round the fragrant four-o’clocks;
O’er the crimson quamoclit,
Lightly dost thou wheel and flit;
Into each tubèd throat
Dives little Ruby-throat.
Bright-glowing airy thing,
Light-going fairy thing,
Not the grand lyre-bird
Rivals thee, splendid one! —
Fairy-attended one
Green-coated fire-bird!
Shiniest fragile one,
Tiniest agile one,
Falcon and eagle tremble before thee!
Dim is the regal peacock and lory,
And the pheasant, iridescent,
Pales before the gleam and glory
Of the jewel-change incessant
When the sun is streaming o’er thee!
Hear thy soft humming,
Like a sylph’s drumming!
5. Questions of Travel
by Elizabeth Bishop
There are too many waterfalls here; the crowded streams
hurry too rapidly down to the sea,
and the pressure of so many clouds on the mountaintops
makes them spill over the sides in soft slow-motion,
turning to waterfalls under our very eyes.
–For if those streaks, those mile-long, shiny, tearstains,
aren’t waterfalls yet,
in a quick age or so, as ages go here,
they probably will be.
But if the streams and clouds keep travelling, travelling,
the mountains look like the hulls of capsized ships,
slime-hung and barnacled.
Think of the long trip home.
Should we have stayed at home and thought of here?
Where should we be today?
Is it right to be watching strangers in a play
in this strangest of theatres?
What childishness is it that while there’s a breath of life
in our bodies, we are determined to rush
to see the sun the other way around?
The tiniest green hummingbird in the world?
To stare at some inexplicable old stonework,
inexplicable and impenetrable,
at any view,
instantly seen and always, always delightful?
Oh, must we dream our dreams
and have them, too?
And have we room
for one more folded sunset, still quite warm?
But surely it would have been a pity
not to have seen the trees along this road,
really exaggerated in their beauty,
not to have seen them gesturing
like noble pantomimists, robed in pink.
–Not to have had to stop for gas and heard
the sad, two-noted, wooden tune
of disparate wooden clogs
carelessly clacking over
a grease-stained filling-station floor.
(In another country the clogs would all be tested.
Each pair there would have identical pitch.)
–A pity not to have heard
the other, less primitive music of the fat brown bird
who sings above the broken gasoline pump
in a bamboo church of Jesuit baroque:
three towers, five silver crosses.
–Yes, a pity not to have pondered,
blurr’dly and inconclusively,
on what connection can exist for centuries
between the crudest wooden footwear
and, careful and finicky,
the whittled fantasies of wooden footwear
and, careful and finicky,
the whittled fantasies of wooden cages.
–Never to have studied history in
the weak calligraphy of songbirds’ cages.
–And never to have had to listen to rain
so much like politicians’ speeches:
two hours of unrelenting oratory
and then a sudden golden silence
in which the traveller takes a notebook, writes:
“Is it lack of imagination that makes us come
to imagined places, not just stay at home?
Or could Pascal have been not entirely right
about just sitting quietly in one’s room?
Continent, city, country, society:
the choice is never wide and never free.
And here, or there .
.
.
No.
Should we have stayed at home,
wherever that may be?”
6. Do Not Kill Your Hummingbird
by Bob B
If you care about our friends,
Sound the alarm and spread the word:
Do not let your hummingbird feeder
Kill your visiting hummingbird.
What a pleasure it is to watch
The little critters hover and dip
And dart and dash and land on our feeders,
Looking for sweet nectar to sip!
Enjoying their daily visits, we want
To offer help to our little pals.
But if we’re negligent, we might
Be killing the little guys and gals.
The nectar in your feeder must
Be changed every five days or so.
Otherwise, the birds could die.
This is very important to know.
If a fungus grows in the nectar,
There will be a complication:
The birds will sip it, their tongues will swell,
And then they’ll die of cruel starvation.
I don’t mean to make you depressed
Or increase your apprehensions,
But sometimes human beings can cause
Harm despite our best intentions.
7. My Felisberto
by James Tate
My felisberto is handsomer than your mergotroid,
although, admittedly, your mergotroid may be the wiser of the two.
Whereas your mergotroid never winces or quails,
my felisberto is a titan of inconsistencies.
For a night of wit and danger and temptation
my felisberto would be the obvious choice.
However, at dawn or dusk when serenity is desired
your mergotroid cannot be ignored.
Merely to sit near it in the garden
and watch the fabrications of the world swirl by,
the deep-sea’s bathymetry wash your eyes,
not to mention the little fawns of the forest
and their flip-floppy gymnastics, ah, for this
and so much more your mergotroid is infinitely preferable.
But there is a place for darkness and obscurity
without which life can sometimes seem too much,
too frivolous and too profound simultaneously,
and that is when my felisberto is needed,
is longed for and loved, and then the sun can rise again.
The bee and the hummingbird drink of the world,
and your mergotroid elaborates the silent concert
that is always and always about to begin.
Hummingbird Poems That Rhyme
Poems about hummingbird with rhyming words can be a playful way to celebrate their quick movements and colorful feathers.
1. The Humming-Bird
by Jones Very
Like thoughts that flit across the mind,
Leaving no lasting trace behind,
The humming-bird darts to and fro,
Comes, vanishes before we know.
While thoughts may be but airy things
That come and go on viewless wings,
Nor form nor substance e’en possess,
Nor number know, or more or less,
This leaves an image, well defined,
To be a picture of the mind;
Its tiny form and colors bright
In memory live, when lost to sight.
There oft it comes at evening’s hour,
To flutter still from flower to flower;
Then vanish midst the gathering shade,
Its momentary visit paid.
2. God’s Paintbrush
by William Robinson
Have you seen the sky on fire,
Just before the sun is up?
Seen a hummingbird sip nectar
From a morning glory cup?
Have you seen the world reflected
In a crystal drop of dew?
Seen the sunshine paint a rainbow,
When a summer storm is through?
Have you seen the color spectrum
In the ripples of a stream?
Seen the full moon’s mellow magic
Cast a summer evening’s dream?
Have you seen an eagle soaring?
Seen the gentle mourning dove?
Then you’ve seen God paint a picture,
With the paintbrush of His love.
3. The Hummingbird
by Hermann Hagedorn
Through tree-top and clover a-whirr and away!
Hi! little rover, stop and stay.
Merry, absurd, excited wag—
Lilliput-bird in Brobdingnag!
Wild and free as the wild thrush, and warier—
Was ever a bee merrier, airier?
Wings folded so, a second or two—
Was ever a crow more solemn than you?
A-whirr again over the garden, away!
Who calls, little rover? Bird or fay?
Agleam and aglow, incarnate bliss!
What do you know that we humans miss?
In the lily’s chalice, what rune, what spell,
In the rose’s palace, what do they tell
(When the door you bob in, airily)
That they hush from the robin, hide from the bee?—
Fearing the crew of chatter and song,
And tell to you of the chantless tongue?
Chantless! Ah, yes. Is that the sting
Masked in gay dress and whirring wing?
Faith! But a wing of such airy stuff!
What need to sing? Here’s music enough.
A-whirr, and over tree-top, and through!
Hi little rover fair travel to you.
Sweet, absurd, excited wag—
Lilliput-bird in Brobdingnag!
4. Hummingbirds Nectar
by Anonymous
Swiftly flying up so high
Penetrating wild orchids
Savoring nectar in blue sky
Traveling towards new flower beds
Soft sweet fragrant petals open up slowly
Exposing their coveted warm juicy nectar within
Suckling it’s fresh sweetness all down completely
While enjoying every drop thoroughly deeply in
Only to devour flower after flower all day long
The beauty of nature embraced by precious wings
Flapping so fast zooming around singing a song
Angelicly sleeping so sweetly this hummingbird sings
5. Hummingbird – Quatern
by Theresa Stephens
Hummingbird sips the nectar sweet
honeysuckle rose in the heat
Orange blossoms fragrance the air
Multitudinous, no compare
As green vines curl around love seat
Hummingbird sips the nectar sweet
Overhead dazzle of bright sunshine
Dappling the shadowed cypress pine
As starlings, from flight, rest awhile
Settling over each clay roof tile
Hummingbird sips the nectar sweet
Making summer day so complete
A sudden breeze takes up it’s form
Startled the birds fly up and swarm
Oblivious to frantic tweet
Hummingbird sips the nectar sweet
6. A Humming-Bird
by Edith Thomas
Somewhere I’ve seen thee, strange sprite,
Somewhere I’ve known thee ere now,
Among the wild broods of the night
That nest on the Morphean bough!
Thou with a silent throat
Dost busily rifle all blooms;
O flitter-winged bandit, thy note
Is the bee’s song shed from thy plumes!
Whisper those things in my ear,
That thou art so ready to tell
To creatures too heedless to hear, —
The lily, the foxglove’s bell!
Aha! is it so? — By these eyes,
Prospero’s servant I see, —
Ariel clad in the guise
Of a humming-bird lightsome and free!
7. A Precious Pleasure (A Sonnet)
by M Vincent
Amidst the lush green creeper on the wall,
thick crimson trumpets nestle on the vine;
as twilight deepens through the garden sprawl,
rich scents invite a hummingbird to dine
With beating wings and ruby throat afire,
she quickly flits to sup from each sweet blossom;
she darts from bloom to bloom as I admire
her deftness, which is nothing short of awesome.
While thinking that I’m ready to retire,
she lures me with her tinge of gold and green.
Then plays sweet music with her wings, her lyre
a melody enchanting and serene
For one brief moment, she is mine to treasure
and fills the ebbing dusk with precious pleasure
Hummingbird Poems for Kids
Poems about hummingbirds can be a fun way to introduce children to the natural world, sparking their curiosity and inspiring them to explore the outdoors.
1. Hummingbird
by Gale Greenwood
Sweet little hummingbird so small so slight
I do so love to watch you when you appear.
To hear your wings humming as you fly
it fills me with joy to watch you buzz around.
From flower to flower, you travel on wind currents
drinking floral nectar so you can fly forever after.
Pollen you spread giving back to the life where you fed.
Oh sweet hummingbird is it loving life where you are led?
2. The Hummingbird
by Ruth White
Savoring the last
sweet bite of summer
spent trailing
the stopwatch,
succulent flowers
sip a hummingbird’s
farewell dinner in flight,
so it is, I stand,
sap drawn
from aged seasons wood pile,
stalled kisses swell,
adieu,
sparkling as safely as
yesterborn Autumn’s
reminiscent embers.
3. Hummingbird Princess
by L G Mace
With her fairy, princess-like visage ~
she stands on the cliff of BEING ~
And commands her charges ~ the wonderous
multi-colored hummingbirds to go forth.
In the magic of her realm ~ each tiny bird
is an even bigger wish.
All colored in prisms of different shades of ~
blues, reds, purples ~ so many hues.
Each a different wish or imagined dream.
Only the hummingbird princess and her
tiny charges ~ know their final destination ~
in the kingdom of wishes and dreams.
4. Dinner in Mid Air
by Marty Owens
Hummingbird so slight.
Wings like fairies taking flight.
Eat to your delight.
Hummingbird Poems about Death
While hummingbirds are often associated with joy and vitality, poems about their role in the cycle of life and death can be poignant and meaningful. Here are some hummingbird poems for funeral.
1. Crimson Changes People
by Carl Sandburg
DID I see a crucifix in your eyes
and nails and Roman soldiers
and a dusk Golgotha?
Did I see Mary, the changed woman,
washing the feet of all men,
clean as new grass
when the old grass burns?
Did I see moths in your eyes, lost moths,
with a flutter of wings that meant:
we can never come again.
Did I see No Man’s Land in your eyes
and men with lost faces, lost loves,
and you among the stubs crying?
Did I see you in the red death jazz of war
losing moths among lost faces,
speaking to the stubs who asked you
to speak of songs and God and dancing,
of bananas, northern lights or Jesus,
any hummingbird of thought whatever
flying away from the red death jazz of war?
Did I see your hand make a useless gesture
trying to say with a code of five fingers
something the tongue only stutters?
did I see a dusk Golgotha?
2. Are There Hummingbirds in Heaven?
by Jim Yerman
She crawled into her father’s lap…not long after Grandma died,
Still trying to process what had happened…still a little teary-eyed.
They were on the porch in Grandma’s rocker..when they heard a familiar buzz
“Daddy, are there hummingbirds in heaven? ” She asked, “I’d like to know because…
that was Grandma’s favorite bird…she loved her hummingbirds so…
are there hummingbirds in heaven, Daddy…I’d really like to know? “
Her father started rocking…gently to and fro…
“Are there hummingbirds in heaven…” he said…”Let me tell you what I know…”
“Your Grandma talked a lot about hummingbirds…from the time I was a little boy
She called them little hearts with wings…little moments of fleeting joy.”
“She said a hummingbird is never afraid of a branch breaking…
because she has confidence in her wings.
She said when they spread their wings and fly and soar
they teach there’s beauty in the tiniest things.”
“She was always saying as she watched them come to the feeder then fly off to the sky
that hummingbirds are here to remind us how fast the time can fly…”
“And now that your grandma’s time with us is over…a little sooner than we planned
I think I can answer your question…I think I finally understand…”
“Are there hummingbirds in heaven you ask?
Oh yes…you see the angels need someone to guide them…
and now that Grandma has wings of her own
she happily flying beside them.”
3. Sudden Movements
by Bob Hicok
My father’s head has become a mystery to him.
We finally have something in common.
When he moves his head his eyes
get big as roses filled
with the commotion of spring.
Not long ago he was a man
who had tomato soup for lunch
and dusted with the earnestness
of a gun fight.
Now he’s a man
who sits at the table trying to breathe
in tiny bites.
When they told him
his spinal column is closing, I thought
of all the branches he’s cut
with loppers and piled and burned
in the fall, the pinch of the blades
on the green and vital pulp.
Surgeons
can fuse vertebrae, a welders art,
and scrape the ring through which
the soul-wires flow as a dentist
would clean your teeth.
And still it could happen, one turn
of his head toward a hummingbird,
wings keeping that brittle life
afloat, working hard against the fall,
and he might freeze in that pose
of astonishment, a man estranged
from the neck down, who can only share
with his body the silence
he’s pawned on his children as love.
4. The Hummingbird-Man
by Jenette DeBarge
Part I:
When hibiscus bloom, graceful stamens tickling the sky,
hummingbirds swarm in hoards to sunnier climes.
Where they drink sugar water from feeders in ladies’ backyards.
they will not drink artificial sweetener,
to them, saccharine has the bitter taste of poison.
Hummingbirds originated in South America,
where the Aztec’s thought them to be gods on Earth.
For certain ceremonies Aztec slaves were forced to sew
thousands of tiny hummingbird feathers to priest’s long capes.
Hummingbirds were an instant sensation in European society.
Fashionable ladies would to embellish their hats, homes, and meals,
with tiny jeweled bodies, wings outstretched as if to take flight.
Today in certain parts of Mexico women wear remarkable necklaces,
which showcase lifeless hummingbirds encased in resin.
These talismans symbolize the search for true love.
The Hummingbird-man doesn’t believe in love.
He stares down his hyper-extended nose
at the grey mosaic of the sidewalk
and ponders the bleak prospect
of humanity.
Part II:
The Hummingbird-man’s first word was ‘death’.
He can still remember the fish that ruined his life.
She had big dark, infinite eyes, but he could never hear her voice.
She was all ribbony tail and bubbles, all cloying looks and temptation.
All he wanted was to hold her and kiss her pursed lips,
but she struggled, She fought his embrace. He loved her,
and she chose to die rather than succumb.
She fell from his arms onto the floor and her trashing finally ceased.
Then the toddler who would become the Hummingbird-man, fled.
He ran to his mother’s lilac caress, bewildered and seeking comfort.
Her soft hands wiped away his tears. He smelled coffee and liquor on her lips
as she kissed his forehead and asked what was wrong, why he was crying.
He gripped her familiar hand in both of his tiny fists and led her
back to the still body, the first victim, his heart filled with regret.
The now-dead fish, his first and last pet, stared at him without once blinking,
eyes suffused with accusation, kissable mouth agape, useless gills flared,
organs and segments of veins visible through translucent skin.
Part III:
The hummingbird-man was not always the menace he is today.
He was once innocent and in love with a girl who had eyes like twilight.
They were both young, still children really, but they love they shared was feverish.
To him she was perfect, except for the gap in her teeth and her irrational fear of ants.
An artist in every way: every word she spoke was a song, her every movement
a dance, stargazing with her was like listening to the sky read poetry.
Her smile lit up the world. She played the xylophone because she said it mimicked
the sounds of children laughing – the happiest sound on earth.
The only time he ever saw her cry was when she learned children laugh 300 times a day
but adults are lucky to laugh 300 times a year. She told him she never wanted to grow up
and he quietly fed her crisp frozen grapes. They never fought – she hated arguing
she said every fight was like a miniature war between two people.
That’s probably why she never said goodbye … one day she was just gone.
Her friends said she left with a band that passed through town.
The lead singer saw her, and wanted her like he’d never wanted anyone before,
so he wooed her and convinced her to go away with him. She never looked back.
It was selfish of her but she was just a child, with a child’s fickle whims.
Without her, he felt dead inside, numb as if she’d blown out the fire inside him.
What he does now isn’t her fault, she was merely the final straw for him.
When he closes his eyes now he can see the dreams and hopes of others,
and he finds them wanting. Pathetic insipid creatures, he thinks, as he kills.
He is trying to cleanse the earth of selfish people,
in his twisted mind this goal is somehow noble.
Hummingbird Poems about Its Spirit
For many people, hummingbirds represent not just physical creature, but spirit animal that embodies traits like resilience, freedom, and beauty. Let’s read some hummingbird spirit poems.
1. Humming-Bird
by D. H. Lawrence
I can imagine, in some otherworld
Primeval-dumb, far back
In that most awful stillness, that only gasped and hummed,
Humming-birds raced down the avenues.
Before anything had a soul,
While life was a heave of Matter, half inanimate,
This little bit chipped off in brilliance
And went whizzing through the slow, vast, succulent stems.
I believe there were no flowers, then
In the world where the humming-bird flashed ahead of creation.
I believe he pierced the slow vegetable veins with his long beak.
Probably he was big
As mosses, and little lizards, they say, were once big.
Probably he was a jabbing, terrifying monster.
We look at him through the wrong end of the long telescope of Time,
Luckily for us.
2. Awakening …
by Jill Martin
Reaching hands
fingertips touching
Clasping.
Finally.
Pull me down
to golden depths of you
where quiet awaits in breathless peaceful.
Wrap your broken mind around my
grateful soul
and hear the healing songs of
God’s spirit ….
hummingbird wings as they kiss your cheek
spring breezes through autumn pines
incoming tide in twilight sleep
winter’s first snowfall ~
open your eyes
remember mine
and
take my hand …
Hummingbird Poems about Love
The beauty and grace of hummingbirds have inspired many poets to write about the intensity and passion of romantic love. Let’s check out these hummingbird love poems.
1. I Wish
by Laura Breidenthal
I wish, for a moment—I could vanish,
like a dream dreamt not to last,
so that ones that dream of me
would falter and wonder
where has she gone?
I wish, that I was a hummingbird
buzzing in and out of sight,
that only observant eyes
and special hearts
can fly with
I wish I was the color
of your favorite thought,
waning and growing
with swelling light
bent on a candid smile
How I wish—and ever more,
that I could be just as I am
and take that little bit of sand
of what we seem to be,
and turn it into something vast—
something true, and welcome
2. Peace of Heart – Potd
by Victor Buhagiar
Times when I felt my life is spent.
Should I yearn for happiness?
I feel I am like a towel
That absorbed too much.
Has it been washed
Far too many times?
Or like a colourful hummingbird
that lost its joyous tune
And can only grumble
At injustice and senile shame?
Behind the dark clouds of everyday
The sun shines bright and clear,
Emitting golden beams,
Enriching the deep galaxy,
Around it circle myriads
Of gaseous nebulas
And gorgeous stars.
And as I contemplate this greatness
I know I’m not alone,
I smile a little hopefully
And feel peace in my heart.
3. Matter of Time
by Terry Ledwell
Baby I know you miss
The way I kiss you head to toe
Caressing you and pressing you
So close so you would know
That if there came a moment
You and I would be apart
We’ll feel that same connection
Through the beating of our hearts
Like a hummingbird in autumn
Hovering on satin wings
We dance in life’s sweet nectar
And rejoice in all it brings
Because what we share is special
And will stand the test of time
A pact we made together
That will last until we die
So if you start to falter
Find your strength in these few lines
Because the shortest distance between us
Is really just a matter of time….
4. To Be Your Hummingbird
by David Brown
To be your hummingbird
Oh, to be a hummingbird,
hovering near your flower
to float above your petals
for hour, upon hour
To taste your wondrous nectar
as I feel the morning dew,
to drink in all the mysteries,
the mysteries of you
5. Hummingbird Muse
by Constance La France
I went to my dreamy dream to find my poetic muse,
and he appeared in the form of a glittering hummingbird;
with brilliant iridescent metallic green plumage and,
he sang me a love song warbling with sugar nectar dripping;
and he beat his tiny wings and hovering kissed my lips.
6. Snag A Tango Hummingbird Mint Bush
by Caren Krutsinger
Beautiful bush called tango hummingbird mint
Glows a fiery blue with oranges in a glint,
Hummingbirds, honey bees, butterflies too,
Love this plant with the orange and the blue.
I have been trying to buy these bushes for a while.
I am always polite and use my best smile.
I call them on the phone and give them my credit card,
Always out-of-stock, as these are amazing out in the yard.
I have come to a conclusion; there is only one way.
I have thought of it for a year, six months, and a day.
The only way to snag a tango hummingbird mint
Is to find a start off a neighbor, and not a skinflint.
Haiku Hummingbird Poems
Haiku, a traditional form of Japanese poetry, can be a perfect way to capture the fleeting beauty of hummingbirds in just a few lines.
1. Spring Haiku Sequence
by Kim Merryman
azalea blossoms
fuchsia, pink, white, red —
bees are buzzing
hummingbird flutters
near backyard feeder–
hello again
pollen in the air
allergies are flaring–
warmer days and nights
2. Wings of Wonder
by Carolyn Devonshire
bee pollinates blooms
hummingbird nips at nectar
flurry of wee wings
3. Swallow-Tailed Hummingbird
by Howard Kerr
Swallow-tailed Hummingbird
fork-tailed azure crown
breed wolfs down trumpet creepers
they dive bomb red kites
4. In an Icicle
by Andrea Dietrich
in an icicle
formed like a hummingbird
I can see spring
5. Hummingbird Motion
by Evelyn Judy Buehler
whisperings of wings
deep drone of summer’s old gold
red rose drips petals
only time will tell
of the countless jeweled birds
summoned by the blooms
fanning the breezes
’til the last of orange sun
august night is soon
6. My Beating Heart
by Kim Merryman
hummingbird wings
beating swiftly —
my heart when near you
7. Souvenir
by Debjani Mitra
honeysuckle vines
bumblebee and hummingbird
take sweet souvenir
Hummingbird Poems by Emily Dickinson
The famous American poet Emily Dickinson was known for her love of nature, and her poems about hummingbirds are some of the most celebrated and enduring works in the genre.
1. The Humming-Bird
by Emily Dickinson
A route of evanescence
With a revolving wheel;
A resonance of emerald,
A rush of cochineal;
And every blossom on the bush
Adjusts its tumbled head, —
The mail from Tunis, probably,
An easy morning’s ride.
2. Hope is the Thing with Feathers (254)
by Emily Dickinson
Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all,
And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.
I’ve heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.
Final Thoughts
In conclusion, poems about hummingbirds offer a unique and versatile way to explore the natural world and our place within it.
From funny limericks to heartfelt elegies, there are hummingbird poems for every mood and occasion.
Through their delicate beauty and rapid movements, hummingbirds inspire us to appreciate the beauty around us, to stay present in the moment, and to celebrate the wonder of the natural world.
Whether we are writing about the joy of love or the inevitability of death, poems about hummingbird remind us of the deep connections between all living things and the importance of cherishing our time on this earth.
