Cuckoo Song
Spring begins in Southern England on the 14th April, onwhich date the Old Woman lets the Cuckoo out of herbasket at Heathfield Fair--locally known as Heffle CuckooFair.
Tell it to the locked-up trees,Cuckoo, bring your song here!Warrant, Act and Summons, please.For Spring to pass along here!Tell old Winter, if he doubt,Tell him squat and square--a!Old Woman!Old Woman!Old Woman's let the Cuckoo outAt Heffle Cuckoo Fair--a!
March has searched and April tried--'Tisn't long to May now,Not so far to Whitsuntide,And Cuckoo's come to stay now!Hear the valiant fellow shoutDown the orchard bare--a!Old Woman!Old Woman!Old Woman's let the Cuckoo outAt Heffle Cuckoo Fair--a!
When your heart is young and gayAnd the season rules it--Work your works and play your play'Fore the Autumn cools it!Kiss you turn and turn about,But my lad, beware--a!Old Woman!Old Woman!Old Woman's let the Cuckoo outAt Heffle Cuckoo Fair--a!
Words in this poem
- whitsuntide n.
- The week commencing with Whitsunday, esp. the first three days -- Whitsunday, Whitsun Monday, and Whitsun Tuesday; the time of Pentecost. R. of Gloucester. [Whitsunday + tide.]
- valiant a.
- Vigorous in body; strong; powerful; as, a valiant fencer. [OE. valiant, F. vaillant, OF. vaillant, valant, originally p. pr. of OF. & F. valoir to be worth, L. valere to be strong. See Wield, and cf. Avail, Convalesce, ]
- beware v. t.
- To avoid; to take care of; to have a care for.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Cuckoo Song is in the public domain. This text is taken from Songs from Books, Project Gutenberg ebook #15529; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Rudyard Kipling, Cuckoo Song, in Songs from Books (1912), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #15529, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/kipling-songs-from-books/cuckoo-song.html, id L20287.
Form and metre
Cuckoo Song is 34 lines in 4 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is ABABCDEECD, complete in 2 of its 4 stanzas. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%).
See other poems in trochaic tetrameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 2 ABABCDEECD treesA · hereB · pleaseA · hereB · doubtC · aD · womanE · womanE · outC · aD
- 3 ABABCDEECD triedA · nowB · whitsuntideA · nowB · shoutC · aD · womanE · womanE · outC · aD
- 4 ABABCADDCA gayA · itB · playA · itB · aboutC · aA · womanD · womanD · outC · aA
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against trochaic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Spring begins in Southern England on the 14th April, on | 13 | ·˘/·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| which date the Old Woman lets the Cuckoo out of her | 13 | ····/˘··/···· |
| basket at Heathfield Fair--locally known as Heffle Cuckoo | 14 | /˘····/˘····/· |
| Fair. | 1 | · |
| Tell it to the locked-up trees, | 8 | ·····˘·· |
| Cuckoo, bring your song here! | 6 | /····· |
| Warrant, Act and Summons, please. | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| For Spring to pass along here! | 7 | ····˘/· |
| Tell old Winter, if he doubt, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Tell him squat and square--a! | 6 | ······ |
| Old Woman! | 3 | ·/˘ |
| Old Woman! | 3 | ·/˘ |
| Old Woman's let the Cuckoo out | 8 | ·/˘··/·· |
| At Heffle Cuckoo Fair--a! | 7 | ···/··· |
| March has searched and April tried-- | 8 | ···˘·/˘· |
| 'Tisn't long to May now, | 5 | ····· |
| Not so far to Whitsuntide, | 7 | ····/˘˘ |
| And Cuckoo's come to stay now! | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| Hear the valiant fellow shout | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Down the orchard bare--a! | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| Old Woman! | 3 | ·/˘ |
| Old Woman! | 3 | ·/˘ |
| Old Woman's let the Cuckoo out | 8 | ·/˘··/·· |
| At Heffle Cuckoo Fair--a! | 7 | ···/··· |
| When your heart is young and gay | 7 | ······· |
| And the season rules it-- | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| Work your works and play your play | 7 | ······· |
| 'Fore the Autumn cools it! | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| Kiss you turn and turn about, | 7 | ······· |
| But my lad, beware--a! | 6 | ···˘/· |
| Old Woman! | 3 | ·/˘ |
| Old Woman! | 3 | ·/˘ |
| Old Woman's let the Cuckoo out | 8 | ·/˘··/·· |
| At Heffle Cuckoo Fair--a! | 7 | ···/··· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.