Fly by?

[NewHope]

I think "by" is redundant in "Birds fly hurriedly by back to roost". Am I on the right track? Or else, what does it mean there?


Context:

Pu Sa Man
by Li Bai
A flat-top forest stretches far in embroidered mist;
A cluster of mountains cool is tinged with heartbreak blue.
The mansion in creeping dusk is clad,
Someone up there is sad.
On marble steps I stand forlorn.
Birds fly hurriedly by back to roost.
Where, pray, is the way home?
Along a string of wayside pavilions I roam.

[Marylin]

[QUOTE=NewHope]I think "by" is redundant in "Birds fly hurriedly by back to roost". Am I on the right track? Or else, what does it mean there?


On marble steps I stand forlorn.
Birds fly hurriedly by back to roost.


The word by functions as a point of reference. In your poem the point of reference is marble steps with the person standing on them. The birds flew by a certain target...the narrator observes them flying by.

I don't know who wrote the poem, NH but I would rather say The birds flew by hurriedly back to roost. Sounds better.