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! - O 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 tree,
Mocks married men; for thus sings he,
Cuckoo!
Cuckoo, cuckoo! - O word of fear,
Unpleasing to a married ear!
More verses by William Shakespeare
- Sonnet 129: Th' Expense Of Spirit In A Waste Of Shame
- Sonnet 40: Take All My Loves, My Love, Yea, Take Them All
- Sonnet 141: In Faith, I Do Not Love Thee With Mine Eyes
- Sonnet 23: As An Unperfect Actor On The Stage
- Sonnet 1: From Fairest Creatures We Desire Increase