OFF TO AFRICA

THE cuckoos of the neighbourhood are meeting in the
park,

They mean to journey leagues away before the day falls
dark.

Oh, sweet their stay in England, and the music from their
beak,

But now they flit to Africa, because their chests are weak.

In counties such as Warwick, if they wintered they
would die,

Speckled children of the sunbeam in a bluer, brighter
sky ;

But they visit us in springtime just to fly about and
speak,

Ere they point away to Africa, because their chests are
weak.

F