When daisies pied

Lyrics

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 ploughman'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! Whenas the rye reach to the chin And chop-cherry, chop-cherry ripe within And strawberries swimming in the cream And schoolboys playing in the stream; Then oh, then oh, my true love said Until that time should come again She could not, could not live a maid