"The shrill cicalas, people of the pine,
Making their summer lives one ceaseless song."—Byron.
[62] The swallow was generally considered the representative of what was barbaric, chattering, and troublesome. See Aristoph. Frogs, 649, and Æsch. Ag. 1017, nevertheless is introduced by Moschus, in his lament for Bion:—
.... "Nor on their mountain thrones,
The swallows utter such lugubrious tones."
Chapman's Tr.
The reader will call to mind the line in Gray.
"The swallow twittering from the straw-built shed."
The chirping noise of the cicada (τέττιξ) is constantly used by the poets as a simile for sweet sounds.
"... pectâ pandat spectacula caudâ."—Hor. S. ii. 2. 25.
"Gavest thou the goodly wings unto the peacocks?"
Job xxxix. 13.