A BEE, whose dainty ear had grown Quite weary of the monotone Which ever from the Cuckoo's throat Repeated one unvarying note, At last besought the tiresome bird, For mercy's sake, to change the word; "'T is 'Cuckoo! Cuckoo!' all day long! Pray, cease your egotistic song: It makes me nervous, sooth to say, And quite unfits to work or play!" "You call my song monotonous? Well, since you choose to make a fuss About my singing, tell me why (Exclaimed the Cuckoo, in reply) Your honey-cells you always frame Alike, -- in size and shape the same? If I'm monotonous, -- confess The fault you find is yours no less!" "Nay!" said the Bee, "a thing of use Has in its worth a fair excuse For many a fault that else would be A hateful thing to hear or see; While arts designed to please the taste With varied beauties must be graced; And, lacking these, they serve alone To pain us, -- like your 'Cuckoo tone!" | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...LIMBO by SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE SATIRES OF CIRCUMSTANCE: 12. AT THE DRAPER'S by THOMAS HARDY A QUOI BON DIRE by CHARLOTTE MEW IN THIS AGE OF HARD TRYING, NONCHALANCE IS GOOD AND by MARIANNE MOORE NORTHERN FARMER, OLD STYLE by ALFRED TENNYSON PIONEER WOMAN by EVA K. ANGLESBURG AT STRATFORD-ON-AVON by H. T. MACKENZIE BELL GOOD-BYE by WILFRID SCAWEN BLUNT INAUGURATION SONNET: ERNEST FOX NICHOLS by HARRY RANDOLPH BLYTHE |