Winter Poem by William Shakespeare

Winter

Rating: 3.5


When icicles hang by the wall
And Dick the shepherd blows his nail
And Tom bears logs into the hall,
And milk comes frozen home in pail,
When Blood is nipped and ways be foul,
Then nightly sings the staring owl,
Tu-who;
Tu-whit, tu-who: a merry note,
While greasy Joan doth keel the pot.

When all aloud the wind doth blow,
And coughing drowns the parson's saw,
And birds sit brooding in the snow,
And Marian's nose looks red and raw
When roasted crabs hiss in the bowl,
Then nightly sings the staring owl,
Tu-who;
Tu-whit, tu-who: a merry note,
While greasy Joan doth keel the pot.

COMMENTS OF THE POEM
R W 14 May 2007

Oh, and for the people who don't know-'blows his nail' means he's blowing on his fingernails to warm them. Roasted crabs= roasted crab apples, not the seafood. Greasy joan keels the pot= stirs the pot to cool its contents. Also, the 'parson's saw' means the 'preacher's sermon.' It's almost impossible to appreciate this poem if you don't understand these terms. Excellent poem!

43 16 Reply
Stephen W 04 December 2015

btw, 'saw' is pejorative, it compares the sermon to the sound of a saw cutting wood - a repetitive drone.

0 0
Ramesh T A 09 January 2012

Picture of winter is wonderfully depicted in his characteristic style that no one other than Shakespeare can do better!

20 17 Reply
* Sunprincess * 18 October 2012

I believe the people mentioned were actually friends or relatives..the poem portrays a harsh winter..excellent write.. :)

25 11 Reply
Paul Myers 24 September 2005

What can one say that hasn't been said already about Shakespeare? He really makes me feel like I'm in the middle of winter. I especially like the line 'And greasy Joan doth keel the pot.'

20 16 Reply
Shaun Cronick 28 March 2020

Simply superb and great.

2 1 Reply
Shaun Cronick 28 March 2020

Superb! The best of the best.

2 1 Reply
Jeanette Telusma 24 June 2019

A lovely poem. I really enjoyed reading it.

1 2 Reply
khaan 14 January 2019

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4 5 Reply
Harsh rajput 27 December 2018

Superb poem

4 2 Reply
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