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.
Notes
Love's Labour's Lost, V.ii; written circa 1593
"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
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Comments
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We sing it too
From guest Bob (contact)
Our choir is learning to sing this one to a setting by John Rutter. This song is called "Icicles" -
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If you've ever walked outdoors on a frosty morning you will know how your body seems to be gripped or nipped by the cold as you trudge through slushy tracks. Shakespeare has emphasised this feeling with his line
"When blood is nipp'd, and ways be foul"
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beautiful
just great!! -
Poetry for EFL
From guest Roger Mason (contact)
I use this poem while teaching EFL to students in Wuhan, Hubei, central China. It describes life at the moment (January 19 2008). Chinese students have learned about Shakespear and like to read his actual words. -
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"Kell the pot" means cool the pot by stirring
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Dick, Tom, Joan, Marian, the parson all bring a strong human element into this poem....I loved the pastoral atmosphere painted here. I could feel like I was looking at a real scene rather than reading a poem; the images are so strong.
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