Monday, January 21, 2013

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.

William Shakespeare  Love's Labour’s Lost, Act V. Sc. II

Four centuries on from Shakespeare’s description of winter’s impact on human life, it doesn't seem as though much has changed. From red noses to chilly fingers, from the need to keep warm to the plight of birds in a snow-covered world, from coughs and colds to roads and paths difficult to negotiate, Shakespeare’s world and ours are closer than we might have thought and I find that rather reassuring.

Love’s Labour’s Lost is a comedy and laughter always helps to ease us through the ups and downs of life, so here is a twenty-first century glimpse of the comic side of winter.




72 comments:

  1. Well I hope the congregation's coughing did not drown you out when you stood in for your vicar....

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    1. It was a close-run thing, Fly, but I've had a lot of practice at drowning out the opposition. Think crying babies at baptisms...:-)

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  2. I love Simon’s cat. Can’t get enough of it.

    Winter’s still with us too, and I am taking a leaf out of your book, cuddling up with a book (my computer too), drinking tea and watching the birds the rest of the time. Sainsbury’s have delivered and we are safe. (I can recommend their dedication to their customers!)

    Lovely isn’t it, reading poetry and being quiet.

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    1. Simon's Cat is a creation of genius, Friko, and I'm a huge fan.

      Glad you are now safely provisioned and can sit out the snow until the promised thaw at the weekend. DH and I are still enjoying the uninterrupted quiet, though he's out as I write, walking down to the village a mile and a half away to post a really urgent letter. There's always something....

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  3. It's been fun to read all the snow blogposts from Britain..because we, in Mississippi, had a very rare snow last week. I think it was the same day it started snowing over there. For once, it was like we were in the same area...so to speak.

    Then it turned noon...the sun came out and all the snow melted like it had never happened. :)

    I can't deal with the cold. I can't even deal with cool. The condensation that gathers on the car window in the winter around here is enough to drive me bananas.

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    1. Well, you don't get much practice at dealing with cold, EF, so it's hardly surprising it bugs you. We had a long series of milder winters in the 1990s and early 2000s, so the last few hard winters have been a bit of a shock to the system.

      But there are compensations, such as the ethereal beauty and deep peace of a snowy landscape, which is why British bloggers have gone a bit mad with their snow posts recently. So much more appealing than the rain and mud which dominated last year's weather. :-)

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  4. I love that cat.
    We are having cold and sunny weather here - happy about the sunshine, not so happy about the cold. No snow, and that is a mercy, as life grinds to a total stop when it snows.
    Do stay warm!

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    1. Simon's cat is wonderful, Pondside, and there are lots more on YouTube.

      I'm glad the sun is shining for you in BC, as it's been absent here in Wales for what seems like ages. I'm surprised to hear that life grinds to a halt for you when it snows, as I always thought Canada was so good at dealing with snow. Perhaps you're like us and don't get enough of it where you are to be in practice.

      We're warm thanks, though I'm dressed in more layers than I care to admit. :-)

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  5. I also love the cat! Simon's cat is new to me! :-) I can remember a time when I was young and read these very words, trying to really picture milk frozen in the pail, and the extent of the cold described. I have always lived where our coldest doesn't really dip that low. Are those icicles hanging outside your window? They're beautiful and just amazing. And COLD! :-) I love that you illustrated your story with Shakespeare!

    I'm having trouble leaving a comment, so I'll just use "anonymous" for now. Not sure why I had trouble. These things happen. Debra (breathe lighter).

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    1. I though you would enjoy Simon's Cat, Debra. I've featured it a couple of times before and you'll find plenty on YouTube.

      Yes, those icicles were hanging outside our conservatory window until yesterday afternoon, when it thawed just enough for them to break loose. I measured the bigger one at over 2 feet long! Once I'd taken the photo, the passage from Shakespeare just leapt into my mind and demanded to be posted. I've seen many a doorstep milk bottle in then past with the milk frozen enough that it lifted the foil cap.

      Sorry you're having trouble leaving comments. I think Blogger is having another conniption fit as I had huge trouble uploading the photo for this post last night and this has never happened to me before. Sigh...

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  6. My mother's name was Marion, so my dad constantly quoted the nose red and raw bit, on every possible occasion (being the (sensitive) soul he was.!
    I think it was the bit of Shakespeare we all knew by heart.
    I have Simon's Cat in my email notifications so get a regular helping.
    Quite a character isn't he?
    I know what you mean about the unchanging nature of our seasons, but really rather wish they would change dramatically (for the better of course).

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    1. Your poor mother, Ray, that wasn't fair. Sometimes jokes can wear very thin indeed. No wonder you knew that particular poem so well. I had to learn it at school, but needed to refresh my memory after all these years.

      Do you know, it had never occurred to me to subscribe to Simon's Cat? Many thanks for the suggestion. I do love them.

      be careful what you wish for where the seasons are concerned. Getting warmer doesn't seem to mean getting dryer unfortunately. All I really want is a bit of balance.

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    2. I'm a Marion, but thankfully my nose is just fine, here indoors with no need to venture out. I have never had that quoted at me when I've a had a cold, sometimes it pays not to have rellies with a good working knowledge of poetry! As Perpetua is my big sister she may have thought it at times, but has always been too kind to say it...

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    3. I would never do that to you, Baby Sis, probably because the idea has never occurred to me. :-) Glad you're staying safely indoors, as I'm guessing your pavements aren't too good. We should be out again at the weekend, so may see you next Monday after my rescheduled medical appointment (should have been there this morning. Hah!)

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  7. Simon's cat is new to me too, but that is so sweet and funny!

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    1. I really love Simon's Cat, Patricia, and have included it before on my blog. if you want more there are plenty on YouTube and they all make me laugh.

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  8. Hello Perpetua:
    What fun we have had watching Simon's Cat and his icecapades. Of course, it is always good to watch such things from the warmth of indoors, a good book and a hot drink to hand!

    As you say, there is something wonderfully reassuring about knowing that the various 'ills' of winter have been bemoaned since time immemorial. Such is progress!!

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    1. I find Simon's Cat (and more recently his kitten companion) totally delightful, Jane and Lance, and enjoy finding reasons to include him on my blog. It's still definitely the weather for staying safely indoors, as it's now very icy underfoot and 'ways be foul' indeed.

      I take great comfort at times from reading Shakespeare and his contemporaries and finding that their insights are still so relevant to our apparently so different world.

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  9. This post certainly warmed me through. I read the quote before seeing it was from Love's Labour's Lost - (shamefully, I didn't recognise it) - thinking, 'how perfect, how absolutely perfect'. Of course, Shakespeare had quite a way with words, didn't he?
    And then giggled through Simon's cat - he's so clever and observant...Simon, that is, not the cat!
    We're awaiting a snowfall here in the next week or so - with the Sierra Nevada to the south all snowy and the mountains to the north all snowy, there is an ominous threat all around us. No doubt it will fall on 8th February - Carnival Day....
    Keep warm,
    Axxx

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    1. Thanks, Annie. I couldn't believe how apt Shakespeare's words were when I refreshed my memory of the whole poem and not just the first line which is all most people know of it. OK, greasy Joan has been replaced by a dishwasher in some cases, but apart from that, it's still recognisably our world. Shakespeare and Simon Tofield are both great observers of behaviour, aren't they?

      Here's hoping your snowfall comes sooner rather than later and isn't too disruptive, so that Carnival can still go ahead. I always look forward to your account of the festivities.

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  10. The icicles remind me so much of winter in the north west corner of Connecticut -- as do the shenanigans of Simon's Cat! Today looks like the pavements are dry and the steps don't seem to be icy -- so I will dare to venture out for some much needed exercise -- though I wouldn't be surprised if I don't catch myself a red nose for my efforts!

    Thanks for a lovely post that began my morning with a smile...

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    1. Glad to have brightened your day, Broad. We don't often get many icicles, but occasionally we get some real beauties, the best being one in the Arctic cold of January 2010 which measured a full metre and was there for days!

      Enjoy and stay safe on your walk. For all practical purpose I'm housebound at the moment as it's so icy and my balance on ice is so precarious that it would be foolhardy to try to go far on the lane. I may go down into the fields instead, where it's just snowy....

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  11. Love the icicles. Shakespeare and Simon's cat on the same post. Now there's a thing you rarely see.

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    1. LOL, Kerry! Pure serendipity, which all started with the photo of the icicles. Glad you enjoyed it.

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  12. Sadly our snow [I love snow] has melted and all we have left is super saturated, muddly squelchy ground. But the combination of a mug of coffee, sunshine -- hurrah and Simon's cat brought a large grin to my face! :-)

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    1. What, gone already, Antoinette? what a shame, when you enjoy it so much. Mud is so utterly depressing, so hopefully the sun will start to dry things up for you. Simon's Cat always cheers me up too.

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  13. I really like Simon's Cat as well. The cartoons are always amazing, and always make me smile. Have a great day.

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    1. Thanks, Bonnie and the same to you. I think the videos justifiably have a huge number of fans and I'm also enjoying the book of Simon's Cat cartoons I was given for Christmas.

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  14. Snigger! Simon's cat actually sounds like one of mine (the other being the silent type).. Ours have yet to venture out, and the pond is only covered in slush, so the fish will be fine and in no imminent danger of capture!

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    1. Does your cat also do the pointing-at-his-mouth bit when he wants to be fed, CB? If it's finally stopped snowing where you are, you really should introduce your cats to snow, as part of their education in the ways of the world. :-)

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    2. No, but he does the "You're killing me here, where's the food?" extended baleful mew, which increases in volume in direct proportion to the length of time you spend in the kitchen without attending to his dietary needs...and if that doesn't work, he vaults from the recycling bin to the taller bin to the work surface - which I am spending much time and effort discouraging! Simon's cat is much brighter! And too late, the snow's melted...

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    3. LOL! They all have their little (and not so little) ways of getting us to do what they want, CB. I often wonder who is training whom. :-)

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  15. How can I find Simon's Cat on line? It's WONDERFUL!! We've made it to Llani & back for dental check-ups this morning with no problems at all (except for long hold-ups between Caersws & Newtown for road works!) Our icicles aren't as big as yours, and are beginning to thaw. BH is getting a bit fed up with having to remove quantities of snow from the dogs - poodles do seem to get it clogged up in their fur, and the way they bounce around in it, they collect quite large 'snowballs'. Catching them both to dry them off before they go into the loung and settle on our chairs is quite a performance - and we're keeping the lounge door open to let the heat from the fire percolate through the rest of the house! Oh the joys of winter - still, it's prettier than rain, isn't it (and all those lovely books to read as well).

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    1. They're all on YouTube, Helva. just go to http://www.youtube.com/ and put Simon's cat in the search box, then sit back and enjoy yourself.

      I'm glad to know the main roads are now clear. We're still stuck up here in the hills, as every time it tries to thaw it freezes again and then we get a bit more snow on top. DH went out to walk down to post a letter in the village, but thankfully only had to go less than half a mile down the hill before he met a neighbour with a 4x4 who is going down to the post this afternoon. DH said our lane and the council road are both very icy and getting our car out will have to wait for the promised that at the weekend. But we're reasonably warm and have food and books, so are quite comfortable. :-)

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  16. I hadn't seen that little cartoon of Simon's Cat. Great stuff. I love the others too.

    It's not too nippy here, thank goodness, not yet anyway. February has yet to come though.

    My cat spends all day on my bed at the moment.

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    1. I only just found it too, Sarah. I really must subscribe to the new ones as they come out. They always make me giggle.

      I'm guessing that the worst of the winter comes up in the mountains where you are, though I know it was very bad in the south of France last year. Let's hope you don't get a repeat performance. I gather we may possibly get more snow in February too....

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  17. It is always a delight for me when you post one of Simon's adventures, Perpetua. To have a bit of frosty Shakespeare added to the joy as I sit her on a snowless but very cold morning, where the temperature is hovering just a bit north of 1°F. Brrrr. Enjoy the lovely solitude of your winter there.

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    1. I really enjoy finding a Simon's Cat adventure to fit my theme, Penny, but try not to do it too often. The Shakespeare was just so apt and I found the contrast very amusing.

      Gosh, 1°F is around -17C! That is SO cold for a daytime temperature and yet you still have no snow. One thing is for sure - if you get any, it will stick and stay around for quite a while. Stay warm and cosy and revel in your books. :-)

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  18. Love the poem Love's Labour's lost and so apt. The icicles are amazing and still laughing about Simons cat. Love it. Have a good week and keep warm.
    Patricia x

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    1. It's one of two songs in that scene, Patricia, the other being about the joys of spring. Oddly enough it's the winter one that everyone knows and loves and the spring one is basically unknown.

      These particular icicles fell from the roof yesterday afternoon, but others are still forming and today we've had no thaw. Brrr! Everyone who sees Simon's Cat seems to love it and it always makes me laugh out loud. Good luck with the revision.

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  19. I always think that it is quite extraordinary the way the animator, Laura Nailor in this case, manages to get so much character built into a single black line on a white background.

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    1. Trust you to have discovered who the animator is, Rosemary! You are such a knowledgeable person and when you don't know, you find out. :-) She certainly stays completely true to Simon Tofield's original cartoons.

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  20. I'm so glad you introduced Simon's Cat a while ago or I would probably never have discovered it...it's delightful.

    I love that poem. I never really appreciated Shakespeare when I was at school, but his words all mean so much more now I'm older.

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    1. Ayak, I was introduced to Simon's Cat by an American blogger I follow and fell in love with them immediately. So of course I had to share the pleasure with my readers too. They are so worth watching and more than once too. :-)

      I think many of us grow into Shakespeare as we get older and gain more experience of the world. His insights and language can be so profound and so they go over our heads a lot of the time at school. I wonder how much Shakespeare is even studied nowadays at school....

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  21. Hi Perpetua, I too am a fan of Simon's cat. The creator really knows his cats...

    I sometimes forget that you are in Wales, but I have to mention that when we visited Wales in 1998, we loved it. There was a little town called Hay on Wye that was full of bookstores... and we happened into it on the week of the International Book Festival (Old books everywhere!)

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    1. He does indeed, Rian. I always see aspects of cats I have known and loved in his cartoons.

      Yes, we're in beautiful Mid-Wales, about 50 miles north of Hay-on-Wye, which is often called the secondhand book capital of the world (or at least of Britain). The Book Festival has now grown into the Hay Festival of Literature and the Arts, which features big names from all over the world - quite an achievement for a town of less than 1500 people!

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    2. Just came across your reply... Have to add here that the reason we *happened upon* Hay-on-Wye was due to a book my friend and I had both read... maybe you've heard of it?... "Lady of Hay" by Barbara Erskine? Loved that book.

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    3. You're speaking to a former librarian here, Rian. I have indeed heard of it and indeed shelved it on many occasions. :-)

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  22. I remember having to recite that poem in school - you're right the weather hasn't changed much - but the milk now disappears down the road in the bulk tanker and turns up at the supermarket in plastic bottles. Greasy Joan has been educated into healthy heating and the microwave :)

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    1. Snap, Molly - interestingly always that one and never its companion about spring. Yes, things have changed less than we think in fundamental ways. We still grumble about the bad roads and sneeze and cough everywhere, while wiping our red noses. Some of have even gone back to burning logs.:-)

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  23. Thank you Perpetua - you've saved me googling 'When icicles hang by the wall'. I've tried to quote it to Sybille a few times recently when seeing icicles here in snowy, icy Prague. I could manage the first two lines & knew it was Shakespeare, but not that it was from 'Love's Labour's Lost'. I could also remember, 'And milk comes frozen home in pail', but not the line in between.

    The reason it is so familiar to me is that my mother used to quote it. I'm sure she knew it from her time as a pupil at South Wilts Secondary School for Girls in Salisbury in the late 1920s/early 1930s. But as she grew up living on a dairy farm on the Hampshire/Wiltshire border, therefore in winter, she personally experienced milk coming 'frozen home in pail' :-)

    As for Simon's Cat, I could imagine Oscar doing similar things when he was younger, but not now he is a 'senior cat'!

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    1. Always happy to be of service, Ricky. :-) As I've said in previous replies I used to know it off by heart, but no longer, though some lines always stayed with me, including the last. 'While greasy Joan doth keel the pot' is a memorable line.

      I can well imagine your mother seeing milk frozen in the pail in an unheated farm dairy back then, like the frozen milk in doorstep milk bottles I remember from my childhood. Molly's comment about tankers and plastic milk bottles shows that some things have changed quite recently.

      I'm glad to know that Oscar is still thriving, even as a senior cat. I can well imagine him as rather slow and stately nowadays. :D

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    2. 'Slow and stately' is a fair description of Oscar these days. He will celebrate his 16th birthday in March.

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    3. Aww, bless him, that's a good age.

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  24. Nothing has changed, winter-wise. Although at least now there's cable. :-)

    Pearl

    p.s. Regarding the 5000 sq ft house Mary and I cleaned, you're right. It IS huge: by British standards, by American standards. Who in the world needs that much space? The master suite alone was MUCH larger than my first apartment.

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    1. There may be cable in Minneapolis, Pearl, but not yet in these Welsh hills. But of course there's always good old broadband and satellite TV. :-)

      I just couldn't believe the size of the house you mentioned. It's a (not so) small mansion! And the mere thought of the heating bills in a Minnesota winter makes me shudder......

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  25. Perpetua, just caught your comment on Niall & Antoinette's deer... I'm surprised that you've never been bothered by them in Bonnie Scootland... have you ever driven down the Melvich to Hemsdale road, past Forsinard. There are thousands of deer in those two straths... they obviously haven't made it over the hills in your direction!!

    And Simon's Cat is superb... thanks!

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    1. Hi Tim. We see plenty of deer as we drive around, both on the road you mention and on the road up from Lairg to Tongue and the east-west coast road, but not down in the village itself so far. However a friend on the edge of the next village has trouble keeping them out of her garden when they come down from the hills in bad weather. Wonderful to look at, but not when they're eating your precious plants....

      Simon's Cat is a winner every time!

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  26. Dear Perpetua, oh I laughed out loud at Simon's cat and the kitten! What a delightful animation to look at before I put on my winter coat and drive to Weight Watchers where I'll step on the scale and discover, I'm sure, that I've gained three or four pounds in the six weeks since I last attended. No fish for me. Maybe for the kitten, but surely I must stop indulging!

    Thank you, Perpetua, for visiting my blogs during the past six weeks and leaving comments. I appreciate your words of support during all this time that I've polished and entered the manuscript for "The Reluctant Spy." Now I've started to read and comment on blogs and so have returned to your well-loved blog. If you have any postings from the past six weeks that you'd especially like me to read, please do let me know by e-mail or by leaving a comment on my blog. Keep warm. Peace.

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    1. Welcome back, Dee. How very nice to see your name popping up again in my comments. I thought you would enjoy the Simon's Cat cartoon and I'm sure you must have seen your beloved cats get up to lots of tricks over the years. If you have put on weight over the festive season you'll have lots of company, but I think fish will go on being a better food to eat than many others. I too am trying to shed a few pounds. Sigh....

      There's just one post I think you would particularly enjoy so I'll email you the link.

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  27. Oh hi Perpetua,
    I've been thinking of you. I hear our friends across The Pond are getting tons of snow. How are you managing?
    How much snow have you gotten by now?
    Not much snow here in NYC, so far. It's been extremely cold this past week, but dry.
    Hang in there, Friend. Spring will be upon us sooner than you think!

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    1. Hi Nerima, how nice to see you. By our standards some areas have had a lot of snow, though I think most Americans wouldn't think it was very much. We've had about 6" or 7", but it drifted so that we couldn't get the car out. Other places have had twice as much or more and have had considerable difficulties. Thankfully the thaw has arrived and I think most of the snow will have gone by the end of the weekend.

      I'd heard it's very cold but with little snow for many places in the US. I hope you don't now hget a big fall orm it will saty with you for a long time. Take care.

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  28. Oh that Cat cartoon is a riot! LOL

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  29. Hmmm.... Greasy Joan... Someone had in in for his other half there. Do you think Shakespeare is the real owner of Greasy Jo's diner? :-)

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    1. Love it, MM! I don't think the C16th was a woman's world, but at least Joan was only cooling the pot, not washing it. :-)

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  30. I did not know the author Barbara Nadel but I made a note to find her books at the library as the setting being in Turkey sounds like the type I would like to read. We saw Istanbul quickly after our trip to Venice.
    I like to look at your pretty pictures of the snow around your house, but frankly I enjoy our mild winters here.

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    1. Vagabonde, if you like Donna Leon's Venice novels, I think you will enjoy Barbara Nadel, as the sense of place is very strong. The one I've just finished was set partly in Cappadocia, so she takes us outside Istanbul too.

      As far as the snow is concerned, I think even those, like me, who love the snow, are glad that the thaw has come and it is rapidly disappearing. One can have too much of a good thing.....

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  31. How are you faring Perpetua? We're hearing there is more flooding now further into Wales. After last night's heavy snow here and now tonight's heavy rain there will be flooding here soon too methinks, not that it will affect us directly, we're too high above the river.

    Thanks for the get well wishes, much appreciated :)

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    1. Hi Annie, glad to see you're feeling well enough now to read and comment and hope you'll soon be fully recovered.

      The snow started to melt yesterday, but there was still a good covering at bedtime which has now virtually disappeared with all the rain overnight. We haven't been down to the village yet, but expect that the streams and river will be extremely full, if not already overflowing. Now to check the BBC website to see the state of play elsewhere....

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  32. I hadn't read that in years and years. Thank you for posting it.

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    1. You're very welcome, tut-tut. Glad you enjoyed it. It's good to read these works again.

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