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 three,
Mocks married men; for thus sings he,
Cuckoo,
Cuckoo, cuckoo! Oh 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 three,
Mocks married men; for thus sings he,
Cuckoo,
Cuckoo, cuckoo! Oh word of fear
Unpleasing to a married ear!