Tee'd up and started off.
It drowned the distant noise of motor-'buses,
It drowned the shunting trains, the traffic's roar,
The milk, the bread, the meat, the tradesmen's fusses,
And the long secret tale told o'er and o'er
That all day long Eliza Jane discusses
With the new girl next door.
So sweetly the bird sang. Great thrills went through it.
It seemed to say, "The glorious sun hath shone,
Flooding the world like treacle wrapped round suet;