Spring and Winter i

By William Shakespeare

1564-1616

WHEN daisies pied and violets blue,
         And lady-smocks all silver-white,
And cuckoo-buds of yellow hue
         Do paint the meadows with delight,
The cuckoo then, on every tree,
Mocks married men; for thus sings he,
         Cuckoo!
Cuckoo, cuckoo!--O word of fear,
Unpleasing to a married ear!

When shepherds pipe on oaten straws,
         And merry larks are ploughmen's clocks,
When turtles tread, and rooks, and daws,
         And maidens bleach their summer smocks
The cuckoo then, on every tree,
Mocks married men; for thus sings he,
         Cuckoo!
Cuckoo, cuckoo!--O word of fear,
Unpleasing to a married ear!

DayPoems Poem No. 127
<a href="http://www.daypoems.net/poems/127.html">Spring and Winter i by William Shakespeare</a>

The DayPoems Poetry Collection, www.daypoems.net
Timothy Bovee, editor

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