The Cuckoo-Clock

Composed 1842.--Published 1842

[Of this clock I have nothing further to say than what the poem expresses, except that it must be here recorded that it was a present from the dear friend for whose sake these notes were chiefly undertaken, and who has written them from my dictation.--I.F.]

One of the “Poems of the Imagination.”--ED.

Wouldst thou be taught, when sleep has taken flight, By a sure voice that can most sweetly tell, How far-off yet a glimpse of morning light, And if to lure the truant back be well, Forbear to covet a Repeater’s stroke, That, answering to thy touch, will sound the hour; Better provide thee with a Cuckoo-clock For service hung behind thy chamber-door; And in due time the soft spontaneous shock, The double note, as if with living power, Will to composure lead--or make thee blithe as bird in bower.

List, Cuckoo--Cuckoo!--oft tho’ tempests howl, Or nipping frost remind thee trees are bare, How cattle pine, and droop the shivering fowl, Thy spirits will seem to feed on balmy air: I speak with knowledge,--by that Voice beguiled, Thou wilt salute old memories as they throng Into thy heart; and fancies, running wild Through fresh green fields, and budding groves among, Will make thee happy, happy as a child; Of sunshine wilt thou think, and flowers, and song, And breathe as in a world where nothing can go wrong.

And know--that, even for him who shuns the day And nightly tosses on a bed of pain; Whose joys, from all but memory swept away, Must come unhoped for, if they come again; Know--that, for him whose waking thoughts, severe As his distress is sharp, would scorn my theme, The mimic notes, striking upon his ear In sleep, and intermingling with his dream, Could from sad regions send him to a dear Delightful land of verdure, shower and gleam, To mock the wandering Voice beside some haunted stream.

O bounty without measure! while the grace Of Heaven doth in such wise, from humblest springs, Pour pleasure forth, and solaces that trace A mazy course along familiar things, Well may our hearts have faith that blessings come, Streaming from founts above the starry sky, With angels when their own untroubled home They leave, and speed on nightly embassy To visit earthly chambers,--and for whom? Yea, both for souls who God’s forbearance try, And those that seek his help, and for his mercy sigh.

Compare To the Cuckoo (vol. ii. p. 289)--

O Cuckoo! shall I call thee Bird, Or but a wandering Voice?

ED.

Professor Dowden has appropriately called attention to the fact that the cuckoo-clock at Rydal Mount was not stopped during Wordsworth’s last illness.--ED.