“There’s a special providence in the fall of a sparrow.”
Hamlet, Act v. Sc. 2.
Again, in the following lines, there is an evident allusion to Psalm cxlvii. 9 (“He feedeth the young ravens that call upon him”):—
“And He that doth the ravens feed,
Yea, providently caters for the sparrow,
Be comfort to my age!”
As You Like It, Act ii. Sc. 3.
THE HEDGE-SPARROW.
In Macbeth (Act i. Sc. 2), and Midsummer Night’s Dream (Act iii. Sc. 1), the sparrow is mentioned; and the following passage in Henry IV. will doubtless be remembered by all readers of Shakespeare’s Plays:—
“Falstaff. … “That sprightly Scot of Scots, Douglas, that runs o’ horseback up a hill perpendicular.
P. Henry. He that rides at high speed, and with his pistol kills a sparrow flying.
Falstaff. You have hit it.
P. Henry. So did he never the sparrow.”—Henry IV. Part I. Act ii. Sc. 4.