The Cuckoo
Edward Thomas 1878 (London Borough of Lambeth) – 1917 (Pas-de-Calais)
That's the cuckoo, you say. I cannot hear it.
When last I heard it I cannot recall; but I know
Too well the year when first I failed to hear it -
It was drowned by my man groaning out to his sheep 'Ho! Ho!'
Ten times with an angry voice he shouted
'Ho! Ho!' but not in anger, for that was his way.
He died that Summer, and that is how I remember
The cuckoo calling, the children listening, and me saying 'Nay'.
And now, as you said, 'There it is', I was hearing
Not the cuckoo at all, but my man's 'Ho! Ho!' instead.
And I think that even if I could lose my deafness
The cuckoo's note would be drowned by the voice of my dead.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on May 01, 2023
- 40 sec read
- 115 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | ABAB XCXC XDXD |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
Characters | 623 |
Words | 134 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4 |
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"The Cuckoo" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 13 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/9887/the-cuckoo>.
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