Bliss Carman, et al., eds. The World’s Best Poetry. 1904.
VI. Animate NatureTo the Cuckoo
John Logan (17481788)H
Thou messenger of spring!
Now Heaven repairs thy rural seat,
And woods thy welcome sing.
Thy certain voice we hear.
Hast thou a star to guide thy path,
Or mark the rolling year?
I hail the time of flowers,
And hear the sound of music sweet
From birds among the bowers.
To pull the primrose gay,
Starts, the new voice of Spring to hear,
And imitates thy lay.
Thou fliest thy vocal vale,
An annual guest in other lands,
Another spring to hail.
Thy sky is ever clear;
Thou hast no sorrow in thy song,
No winter in thy year!
We ’d make, with joyful wing,
Our annual visit o’er the globe,
Companions of the Spring.