Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE CUCKOO'S WIT; A CORNISH FOLK-SONG, by ROBERT STEPHEN HAWKER Poet's Biography First Line: Now, of all the birds that keep the tree Last Line: Is wiser than the owl! Alternate Author Name(s): Hawker Of Morwenstow; Hawker, R. S. Subject(s): Birds; Cuckoos | ||||||||
NOW, of all the birds that keep the tree Which is the wittiest fowl? Oh, the Cuckoothe Cuckoo's the one!for he Is wiser than the owl! He dresses his wife in her Sunday's best, And they never have rent to pay; For she folds her feathers in a neighbour's nest, And thither she goes to lay! He winked with his eye, and he buttoned his purse, When the breeding time began; For he'd put his children out to nurse In the house of another man! Then his child, though born in a stranger's bed, Is his own true father's son; For he gobbles the lawful children's bread, And he starves them one by one! So, of all the birds that keep the tree, This is the wittiest fowl! Oh, the Cuckoothe Cuckoo's the one!for he Is wiser than the owl! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE SILVER SWANS: 14. HOTOTOGISU - HOROBIRETE by KENNETH REXROTH ODE TO THE CUCKOO by MICHAEL BRUCE AMORETTI: 19 by EDMUND SPENSER TO THE CUCKOO (1) by WILLIAM WORDSWORTH ODES: BOOK 2: ODE 3. TO THE CUCKOO by MARK AKENSIDE LAURENCE BLOOMFIELD IN IRELAND: 6. SPRING by WILLIAM ALLINGHAM THE CUCKOO by ALEXANDER ANDERSON NIGHTINGALE AND CUCKOO by ALFRED AUSTIN A CUCKOO SONG by WILFRID SCAWEN BLUNT A CHRIST-CROSS RHYME by ROBERT STEPHEN HAWKER |
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