Poems (Tynan)/Cuckoo Song

by Katharine Tynan

CUCKOO SONG

Cuckoo, cuckoo!
In April skies were blue,
As every hedgerow knew;
And there was you.
In April
The cuckoo shows his bill,
With wind-flowers on vale and hill.
    O, Love!
Sweet was April, sweet was April!

Cuckoo, cuckoo!
In May his song was true,
And the world was new
For me and you.
In May
He sings all day,
All the long night that 's sweet with hay.
    O, Love!
How good was May, how good was May

Cuckoo, cuckoo!
Last June the roses grew
In many a place we knew,
I and you.
In June
He changes his tune.
A young man's fancy changes soon.
    O, Love!
Fleet was June, fleet was June!

Cuckoo, cuckoo!
His notes are faint and few,
The lily is dying too,
For the rose there is rue.
In July
Away will he fly,
His notes blown back from an empty sky.
    O, Love!
Sad was July, sad was July.

Cuckoo, cuckoo!
No more we listen to
The roving note we knew,
I and you.
In August
Go he must,
Love and lovers will turn to dust.
    O, Love!
Cold is August, cold is August!