The Cuckoo

When a warm and scented steam
Rises from the flowering earth;
When the green leaves are all still,
And the song birds cease their mirth;
In the silence before rain
Comes the cuckoo back again.

When the Spring is all but gone--
Tearful April, laughing May--
When a hush comes on the woods,
And the sunbeams cease to play;
In the silence before rain
Comes the cuckoo back again.