A First Series of Hymns and Songs/Descriptive Songs/The Cuckoo (II.)
45. The Cuckoo.
Hail, beauteous stranger of the grove,
Attendant on the spring!
Now heav'n repairs thy vernal seat,
And woods thy welcome sing;
Soon as the daisy decks the green,
Thy certain voice we hear.
Hast thou a star to guide thy path,
Or mark the rolling year?
Delightful visitant! with thee
I hail the time of flow'rs,
When heaven is fill'd with music sweet
Of birds among the bow'rs.
The schoolboy, wand'ring in the wood
To pull the flowers so gay,
Starts—thy curious voice to hear,
And imitates thy lay.
Soon as the pea puts on the bloom,
Thou fliest the vocal vale;
An annual guest in other lands,
Another spring to hail.
Sweet bird, thy bow'r is ever green,
Thy sky is ever clear;
Thou hast no sorrow in thy song,
No winter in thy year.