476. To the Cuckoo

HAIL, beauteous stranger of the grove!
Thou messenger of Spring!
Now Heaven repairs thy rural seat,
And woods thy welcome ring.

What time the daisy decks the green,	5
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 flowers,	10
And hear the sound of music sweet
From birds among the bowers.

The schoolboy, wand’ring through the wood
To pull the primrose gay,
Starts, the new voice of Spring to hear,	15
And imitates thy lay.

What time the pea puts on the bloom,
Thou fli’st thy vocal vale,
An annual guest in other lands,
Another Spring to hail.	20

Sweet bird! thy bower is ever green,
Thy sky is ever clear;
Thou hast no sorrow in thy song,
No Winter in thy year!

O could I fly, I’d fly with thee!	25
We’d make, with joyful wing,
Our annual visit o’er the globe,
Companions of the Spring.