It was Spring, joyous Spring,
When each bud had just unfolden,
From its bursting calyx golden,
All the greenery of Spring,
When I heard the cuckoo sing,
Cuckoo! cuckoo! cuckoo!
It was Spring, joyous Spring,
When the shepherd on the wold,
Having tended well the fold,
Saw the meek-eyed ewes well-sheltered
’Gainst the hail and rain that peltered
On the downs, in the Spring!
It was Spring, joyous Spring,
And the black thorn and the white,
Breaking forth from out the night
And the dark of Winter’s gloom,
Raced the chestnuts into bloom
With the leaves, in gentle Spring.
It was Spring, joyous Spring,
When from bush and bough and tree
Burst a song of joy to Thee,
Who hast made the lark that singeth,
And the earth whose produce bringeth
Forth in Spring:
When I heard the cuckoo sing,
Cuckoo! cuckoo! cuckoo!
April, 1896.