The Spring Call by Thomas Hardy
The music player is only available for users with at least 1,000 points.

Download "The Spring Call"

Album Time’s Laughingstocks, and Other Verses

The Spring Call by Thomas Hardy

Performed by
Thomas Hardy

The Spring Call Annotated

Down Wessex way, when spring's a-shine,
&nbsp The blackbird's "pret-ty de-urr!"
In Wessex accents marked as mine
&nbsp Is heard afar and near.

He flutes it strong, as if in song
&nbsp No R's of feebler tone
Than his appear in "pretty dear,"
&nbsp Have blackbirds ever known.

Yet they pipe "prattie deerh!" I glean,
&nbsp Beneath a Scottish sky,
And "pehty de-aw!" amid the treen
&nbsp Of Middlesex or nigh.

While some folk say—perhaps in play -
&nbsp Who know the Irish isle,
'Tis "purrity dare!" in treeland there
&nbsp When songsters would beguile.

Well: I'll say what the listening birds
&nbsp Say, hearing "pret-ty de-urr!" -
However strangers sound such words,
&nbsp That's how we sound them here.

Yes, in this clime at pairing time,
&nbsp As soon as eyes can see her
At dawn of day, the proper way
&nbsp To call is "pret-ty de-urr!"

Your Gateway to High-Quality MP3, FLAC and Lyrics
DownloadMP3FLAC.com