The cuckoo's a pretty bird,
she sings as she flies.
She brings us good tidings,
tells us no lies.
She sucks the little bird's eggs
to keep her voice clear.
And when she sings cuckoo,
the summer draws near.
As I walk down by the side of a bush,
I hear two birds whistle in
the blackbird and the thrush.
I asked them the reason, so merry they be,
And the answer they gave me,
We are single and we are free.
A -walkin', a -talkin', a -walkin' was
I,
To meet my true lover he'll come by
To meet him in the meadows
is all my delight,
A -walkin' and talkin'
from mornin' till night.
Meeting is pleasure, but parting is a grief,
And an inconstant lover is
worse than a thief.
A thief can but rob me and take all I have,
But an inconstant lover
sends me to the grave.
And the grave,
it will rot me and bring me to dust
An inconstant lover,
no maiden can trust
They'll court you and kiss
you and vow they'll
be true
And the very next moment,
they'll bid you
The cuckoo's a pretty bird,
she sings as she flies.
She brings us glad tidings, tells us no lies,
and when her time is come, her voice we don't
hear.
And where she goes we do
not know until another year.