Classic Poem

Winter (from Love's Labor's Lost )

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.

Spring (from Love's Labor's Lost )

When daisies pied and violets blue
And lady-smocks all silver-white
And cuckoo-buds of yellow hue
Do paint the meadows with delight,
The cuckoo then, on every tree,
Mocks married men; for thus sings he,
Cuckoo ...
Cuckoo, cuckoo: O word of fear,
Unpleasing to a married ear!

When shepherds pipe on oaten straws,
And merry larks are ploughmen's clocks,
When turtles tread, and rooks, and daws,
And maidens bleach their summer smocks,
The cuckoo then, on every tree,
Mocks married men; for thus sings he,
Cuckoo ...
Cuckoo, cuckoo: O word of fear,
Unpleasing to a married ear!

Summer

When strawberries fall by the hedge,
And garden spiders gown the vines,
And melons ripen on the ledge,
And clouds of dust surround the pines,
When spreading crimson ends the day,
Cicadas chide and scrape away,
Skaree ...
Skaree, skaree: metallic sound
As Marian hoes the dusty ground.

When oven heat makes lovers fools,
And lotus blooms and leafy mint
And roses fresh by mirror pools
Confuse in cooling air their scent,
When aching bones wheel home the hay,
Cicadas chide and scrape away,
Skaree ...
Skaree, skaree: metallic sound
As Marian hoes the dusty ground.

Autumn

When empty baskets fill the shed,
And rakes' and reapers' season's done,
When leaves are burnt, and Dobbin's dead,
And Marian's nursing her new son;
While Dawn sleeps still, with rosy hair
All tossed and tangled in the briar —
A bush ...
Shhh ... No infant's cry,
No need another lullaby.

When frost has found the apple bins,
And empty lies the robin's nest,
When shepherds smile to dream their sins
And nightmare nags the gardener's rest;
While Dawn sleeps still, with rosy hair
All tossed and tangled in the briar —
A bush ...
Shhh ... No infant's cry,
No need another lullaby.