 | Areytos or songs and ballads of the South |  |
107
COO! COO! THE WEET TU WHU!
The birds that sing in the leafy spring,
With the light of love on each glancing wing,
Have lessons to last you the whole year through;
For what is, “Coo! coo! te weet tu whu!”
But, properly rendered, “The wit to woo!”
A wit that brings worship and wisdom too!
Coo! coo! te weet tu whu—
The wit to woo—te weet tu whu!
With the light of love on each glancing wing,
Have lessons to last you the whole year through;
For what is, “Coo! coo! te weet tu whu!”
But, properly rendered, “The wit to woo!”
A wit that brings worship and wisdom too!
Coo! coo! te weet tu whu—
The wit to woo—te weet tu whu!
The verb “to love,” in the tongue of the dove,
Heard noon and night in the cedar grove,
Is very soon taught where the heart is true:
For the wit to woo, and the wisdom too,
Lie in the one sweet syllable, “Coo!”
But echo me well, and you learn to woo—
Coo! coo! te weet tu whu—
The wit to woo—te weet tu whu!
Heard noon and night in the cedar grove,
Is very soon taught where the heart is true:
For the wit to woo, and the wisdom too,
Lie in the one sweet syllable, “Coo!”
But echo me well, and you learn to woo—
Coo! coo! te weet tu whu—
The wit to woo—te weet tu whu!
In every zone is the language known,
But in spring it takes ever the sweetest tone,
A something betwixt a carol and moan;
And if you have only the wit to woo,
You will do it in song as the young birds do,
And maidens will listen the whole year through—
Coo! coo! te weet tu whu—
The wit to woo—te weet tu whu!
But in spring it takes ever the sweetest tone,
A something betwixt a carol and moan;
And if you have only the wit to woo,
You will do it in song as the young birds do,
And maidens will listen the whole year through—
Coo! coo! te weet tu whu—
The wit to woo—te weet tu whu!
And never was word, of the forest bird,
Sweeter than that of the maiden heard,
When once to the depths her heart is stirred;
For she hath the proper wit to woo,
And the gift of song to sweeten it, too!
She hath but to coo, and she teaches to woo,
The whole sweet lesson, te weet tu whu—
Coo! coo! the wit to woo—te weet tu whu!
Sweeter than that of the maiden heard,
When once to the depths her heart is stirred;
108
And the gift of song to sweeten it, too!
She hath but to coo, and she teaches to woo,
The whole sweet lesson, te weet tu whu—
Coo! coo! the wit to woo—te weet tu whu!
| Areytos or songs and ballads of the South | |