When he illustrated Eugene Field’s “Poems of Childhood”, the artist Maxfield Parrish said he conceived of The Dinky Bird as a way of showing “the spirit of the swing, just the catch in the turn of the motion.”  I have endeavored to let the music, too, express that wonderful feeling of flying, freedom, and joy which the painting so beautifully captures and which I always felt as a child whenever I (happily) found myself on a swing. In this piece the piano is used to maintain a sense of constant motion and rhythm; while the flute, violin and cello communicate to each other their feelings of innocent pleasure, well being and inner-harmony--all contained within the arc of the swing in motion. I have tried to express that lovely feeling of floating in air with the soft breeze caressing your face, rather like flying, ...flying alongside the bird (the flute) particularly as heard in opening and closing portions of the music -- the Dinkey Bird.

Julie Mandel

THE DINKEY BIRD
by Eugene Field

In an ocean ‘way out yonder
(as all sapient people know),
Is the land of wonder-wander,
Whither children love to go;

It’s their playing, romping, swinging
That give great joy to me
While the dinkey bird goes singing
In the amfalula tree.

For some reason Parrish omitted the “e” from “Dinkey” when he titled his art “The Dinky Bird”.