Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Spring and Winter


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 nipp'd, and ways be foul
Then nightly sings the staring owl,
To-whit! To-who!—a merry note,
While greasy Joan doth keel the pot.

When all aloud the wind doe 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,
To-whit! To-who!—a merry note,
While greasy Joan doth keel the pot.

Love's Labour's Lost, V.ii; written circa 1593~William Shakespeare

"blows his nail"—blows on his hands to warm them"
keel the pot"—cool the contents of the pot by stirring or pouring in something cold"
saw"—speech or sermon
"crabs"—crabapples

14 comments:

roxie said...

And glad I am not to be name-ed Joan.

Wonderful icicles.

Sharon said...

Oh! We had icicles on the edges of the roof and I forgot to take pictures, kick my bum, they were so pretty! Gone now from the sun (wishing the snow was...)

Stella Jones said...

That beautiful, icy dagger can just stay where it is. Doesn't it look lethal?
A very topical post for today's icy temperatures.

Country Gal said...

Awesome photo and post ! Have a good day !

floweringmama said...

Oh that brings on the shivers....beautiful picture!

Verde Farm said...

I just love icicles--so pretty and the poem is a good one. Two-whit, Two-who.

黄清华 Wong Ching Wah said...

What a cool capture with the lights

Best wishes
Wong

Betsy Banks Adams said...

Great poem, Jo, and I love the icicle. Do you realize that we are still getting snow (flurries) up here? We are still house bound... Roads are a mess....

Hugs,
Betsy

Jen said...

Did you take this photo? I love William Shakespeare.

Barbara Anne said...

'Tis good weather to be stirring a soup pot but I hope not to be greasy! Add cornbread, crusty bread, or crackers and you have a feast fit for fending off the cold.

Hugs!

MadSnapper said...

fantastic shot, i feel like i can reach in and grab hold of one of them and bring it inside my house

A Brit in Tennessee said...

Jen: The photo was taken as the icicle was hanging over my deck yesterday in bitterly cold.

Betsy Brock said...

Oh, that is beautiful! We're still too cold for any to melt that long!

Susan Freeman said...

Love that pic!!

Love,
Susan and Bentley
xxoo