On the last time that i heard the chaffinch sing <br />It was in New Zealand's North Island in the Spring <br />Since then another ten Springs have gone by <br />On looking back the years just seem to fly. <br /> <br />The pink breasted male chaffinch has a familiar song <br />Once heard he's one you never can get wrong <br />When i was young in Ireland Springs ago <br />They sang in wood and groves and on hedgerow. <br /> <br />When the hawthorns were laden in their white blossoms of the May <br />The chaffinch's song it heralded the day <br />Along by the hedgerows the ever babbling rill <br />Raced downland from it's birthplace by the hill. <br /> <br />A voice from the past that in memory i retain <br />And though i may never hear them sing again <br />The chaffinches were familiar birds to me <br />And they are present in my memory.<br /><br />Francis Duggan<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/memories-of-the-chaffinch/
