Spring!
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...”
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...”
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...”
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...”
William Shakespeare,
Song from Love's Labour's Lost (1594-5)
in advance celebration of the 450th anniversary of his birth
(circa 23rd April 1564)
