AMID the sound of picks to-day, And shovels rasping on the rail, A sweet voice came from far away, From out a gladly greening vale. My mate look'd up in some surprise; I half stopp'd humming idle rhyme: Then said, the moisture in my eyes, "The cuckoo, Jack, for the first time." How sweet he sang! I could have stood For hours, and heard that simple strain; An early gladness throng'd my blood, And brought my boyhood back again. The primrose took a deeper hue, The dewy grass a greener look; The violet wore a deeper blue, A lighter music led the brook. Each thing to its own depth was stirr'd, Leaf, flower, and heaven's moving cloud, As still he piped, that stranger bird, His mellow May-song clear and loud. Would I could see him as he sings, When, as if thought and act were one, He came; the grey on neck and wings Turn'd white against the happy sun. I knew his well-known sober flight, That boyhood made so dear to me; And, blessings on him! he stopp'd in sight, And sang where I could hear and see. Two simple notes were all he sang, And yet my manhood fled away; Dear God! The earth is always young, And I am young with it to-day. A wondrous realm of early joy Grew all around as I became Among my mates a bearded boy, That could have wept but for the shame. For all my purer life, now dead, Rose up, fair-fashion'd, at the call Of that grey bird, whose voice had shed The charm of boyhood over all. O early hopes and sweet spring tears! That heart has never known its prime That stands without a tear and hears The cuckoo's voice for the first time. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...TWENTY-FOUR HOKKU ON A MODERN THEME by AMY LOWELL IMPELLED by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON THE AUDACIOUS by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON THE RETURN (2) by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON THE REWARD by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON ITALIAN PICTURES: THE COSTA SAN GIORGIO by MINA LOY |