The Queen's Court Manuscript with Other Ancient Bohemian Poems/The Cuckoo

For other English-language translations of this work, see The Cuckoo (Queen's Court Manuscript).

THE CUCKOO.

 

Upon the plain an oak-tree stands,
⁠A cuckoo there doth sing,
And still she mourns and still complains,
⁠That ’tis not always Spring.

How in the fields could ripen corn,
⁠If Spring were evermoe?
How apples on the orchard-trees,
⁠Were Summer ne’er to go?

Or how the ears in garners freeze,
⁠Were nought but Autumn known?
How woeful were it for the maid,
⁠If always left alone!