The poetical works of Robert Stephen Hawker Edited from the original manuscripts and annotated copies together with a prefatory notice and bibliography by Alfred Wallis |
 |
A CORNISH FOLK SONG. |
 |
 | The poetical works of Robert Stephen Hawker |  |
A CORNISH FOLK SONG.
Now, of all the birds that keep the tree,
Which is the wittiest fowl?
Oh, the Cuckoo—the Cuckoo's the one!—for he
Is wiser than the owl!
Which is the wittiest fowl?
Oh, the Cuckoo—the Cuckoo's the one!—for he
Is wiser than the owl!
He dresses his wife in her Sunday's best,
And they never have rent to pay;
For she folds her feathers in a neighbour's nest,
And thither she goes to lay!
And they never have rent to pay;
For she folds her feathers in a neighbour's nest,
And thither she goes to lay!
He winked with his eye, and he buttoned his purse,
When the breeding time began;
For he'd put his children out to nurse
In the house of another man!
When the breeding time began;
For he'd put his children out to nurse
In the house of another man!
Then his child, though born in a stranger's bed,
Is his own true father's son;
For he gobbles the lawful children's bread,
And he starves them one by one!
Is his own true father's son;
For he gobbles the lawful children's bread,
And he starves them one by one!
204
So, of all the birds that keep the tree,
This is the wittiest fowl!
Oh, the Cuckoo—the Cuckoo's the one!—for he
Is wiser than the owl!
This is the wittiest fowl!
Oh, the Cuckoo—the Cuckoo's the one!—for he
Is wiser than the owl!
| The poetical works of Robert Stephen Hawker | |