Of Nature's First Lessons

I've heard the blue tits young chirp in the hollow log And I've heard the curlew pipe o'er Shannaknock bog And the bluebells, snowdrops and primroses I've seen In Spring blooming on the ditch of the pebbly bohreen. The black and white magpie in the gray dawn of the day Chatters in the grove by the hill far away Where I learned my first lessons from Nature many decades ago In the place of the rook, the jackdaw and gray crow. Where my love for Nature did begin to grow The dark brown river bird dipper with breast as white as snow On a rock midst the rapids where the babbling waters did flow By the scratchy tones of his song him I got to know. Since then many Seasons have come and have gone And the clock on my life it keeps ticking on But of Nature's first lessons the memories remain And the birds in the wood in my thoughts sing again.