When daisies pied

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 ev'ry 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 ev'ry tree

Mocks married men, for thus sings he,

Cuckoo,

Cuckoo, cuckoo: o word of fear,

Unpleasing to a married ear.