An Hour Before Sunrise Poem by Francis Duggan

An hour before sunrise of a Winter's day
The magpie is warbling in the dawn cool and gray
The familiar song so melodious and clear
Of the bird who does sing every day of the year
By the forecast it is going to be a nice sunny day
And though only early Winter the Spring is not that far away
And a bird familiar to many and familiar to me
The magpie lark sings his familiar pee wee
For June in Victoria the weather quite mild and dry
Though one can expect more rainfall in July
Each passing day from now on one day nearer to Spring
When the golden bill blackbird will whistle and sing
And the nesting spur wing plovers will be heard calling at night
And the magpies will be piping in the moonlight.