In April comes the Nightingale,
That sings when day's departed;
The poets call her Philomel,
And vow she's broken-hearted.

To them her soft, sweet, ling'ring note,
Is like the sound of sorrow;
But some aver, no need hath she
The voice of grief to borrow.

No, 'tis the merry Nightingale,
Her pipe is clear and thrilling;
No anxious care, no keen regret,
Her little breast is filling.

She grieves when boys have robbed her nest,
But so would Stork or Starling;
What mother would not weep and cry
To lose her precious darling.