NOW, of all the birds that keep the tree Which is the wittiest fowl? Oh, the Cuckoo—the 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 Cuckoo—the Cuckoo's the one!—for he Is wiser than the owl! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...INVITATION TO LOVE by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR LAMENT FOR THE MAKARIS [WHEN HE WAS SEIK] by WILLIAM DUNBAR THE GOLD-SEEKERS by HAMLIN GARLAND DENIAL [OR, DENIALL] by GEORGE HERBERT TRUST IN GOD by NORMAN MACLEOD (1812-1872) THE HOUSE OF LIFE: 90. 'RETRO ME, SATHANA!' by DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTI SOUTH WIND by SIEGFRIED SASSOON |