William Stanley Braithwaite, ed. The Book of Georgian Verse. 1909.
To the CuckooWilliam Wordsworth (17701850)
O
I hear thee and rejoice.
O Cuckoo! shall I call thee Bird,
Or but a wandering Voice?
Thy twofold shout I hear;
From hill to hill it seems to pass,
At once far off, and near.
Of sunshine and of flowers,
Thou bringest unto me a tale
Of visionary hours.
Even yet thou art to me
No Bird, but an invisible Thing,
A Voice, a mystery;
I listened to; that Cry
Which made me look a thousand ways
In bush, and tree, and sky.
Through woods and on the green;
And thou wert still a hope, a love;
Still longed for, never seen.
Can lie upon the plain
And listen, till I do beget
That golden time again.
Again appears to be
An unsubstantial, faery place;
That is fit home for Thee!