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James Russell Lowell - Fact Or Fancy?
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In town I hear, scarce wakened yet,
  My neighbor`s clock behind the wall
Record the day`s increasing debt,
  And _Cuckoo! Cuckoo!_ faintly call.

Our senses run in deepening grooves,
  Thrown out of which they lose their tact,
And consciousness with effort moves
  From habit past to present fact.

So, in the country waked to-day,
  I hear, unwitting of the change,
A cuckoo`s throb from far away
  Begin to strike, nor think it strange.

The sound creates its wonted frame:
  My bed at home, the songster hid
Behind the wainscoting,--all came
  As long association bid.

Then, half aroused, ere yet Sleep`s mist
  From the mind`s uplands furl away,
To the familiar sound I list,
  Disputed for by Night and Day.

I count to learn how late it is,
  Until, arrived at thirty-four,
I question, `What strange world is this
  Whose lavish hours would make me poor?`

_Cuckoo! Cuckoo!_ Still on it went,
  With hints of mockery in its tone;
How could such hoards of time be spent
  By one poor mortal`s wit alone?

I have it! Grant, ye kindly Powers,
  I from this spot may never stir,
If only these uncounted hours
  May pass, and seem too short, with Her!

But who She is, her form and face,
  These to the world of dream belong;
She moves through fancy`s visioned space,
  Unbodied, like the cuckoo`s song.
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