Volume 2 — To the Cuckoo

Composed 1802.—Published 1807

[Composed in the Orchard at Town-end, 1804.—I. F.]

One of the "Poems of the Imagination."—Ed.

The Poem

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O blithe New-comer! I have heard, I hear thee and rejoice. O Cuckoo! shall I call thee Bird, Or but a wandering Voice? While I am lying on the grass Thy twofold shout I hear, From hill to hill it seems to pass, At once far off, and near. Though babbling only to the Vale, Of sunshine and of flowers, Thou bringest unto me a tale Of visionary hours. Thrice welcome, darling of the Spring! Even yet thou art to me No bird, but an invisible thing, A voice, a mystery; The same whom in my school-boy days I listened to; that Cry Which made me look a thousand ways In bush, and tree, and sky. To seek thee did I often rove Through woods and on the green; And thou wert still a hope, a love; Still longed for, never seen. And I can listen to thee yet; Can lie upon the plain And listen, till I do beget That golden time again. O blessed Bird! the earth we pace Again appears to be An unsubstantial, faery place; That is fit home for Thee! Note Contents 1802 Main Contents 1 2 3 A 5 10 15 20 25 30

Variant 1:

1845

While I am lying on the grass, I hear thy restless shout: From hill to hill it seems to pass, About, and all about! 1807

Thy loud note smites my ear!— From hill to hill it seems to pass, At once far off and near! 1815

Thy loud note smites my ear! It seems to fill the whole air's space, At once far off and near! 1820

Thy twofold shout I hear, That seems to fill the whole air's space, As loud far off as near^a. 1827

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Variant 2:

1827

To me, no Babbler with a tale Of sunshine and of flowers, Thou tellest, Cuckoo! in the vale 1807

I hear thee babbling to the Vale Of sunshine and of flowers; And unto me thou bring'st a tale 1815

But unto me .... 1820

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Variant 3:

1836

No Bird; but an invisible Thing, 1807

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Footnote A:

"Vox et praterea nihil. See Lipsius 'of the Nightingale.'"

Barron Field.—Ed.

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Sub-Footnote a:

Barron Field remonstrated with Wordsworth about this reading, and he agreed to restore that of 1820; saying, at the same time, that he had "made the change to record a fact observed by himself."—Ed.

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Note:

In the chronological lists of his poems, published in 1815 and 1820, Wordsworth left a blank opposite this one, in the column containing the year of composition. From 1836 to 1849, the date assigned by him was 1804. But in Dorothy Wordsworth's Journal the following occurs under date Tuesday, 22nd March 1802:

"A mild morning. William worked at the Cuckoo poem.... At the closing in of day, went to sit in the orchard. William came to me, and walked backwards and forwards. W. repeated the poem to me. I left him there; and in 20 minutes he came in, rather tired with attempting to write." "Friday (March 25).—A beautiful morning. William worked at The Cuckoo."

It is therefore evident that it belongs to the year 1802; although it may have been altered and readjusted in 1804. The connection of the seventh stanza of this poem with the first of that which follows it, "My heart leaps up," etc., and of both with the Ode, Intimations of Immortality (vol. viii.), is obvious.—Ed.

Contents 1802 Main Contents