winter
This poem by Shakespeare is divided in to stanzas with nine lines each.
The meaning of the words:
Icicle: thin point stick of ice that hangs down from something such as a roof.
Dick: name of person.
Shepherd: someone whose job is to take care of sheep.
Blow: wind moving.
Log: peace of cut trees.
Hall: a room or passage that is just inside the front entrance of a house or public building.
Pail: bucket.
Nipped: frozen.
Foul: disgusting, very ugly.
Nightly: every night.
Stare: to look at someone or something for a long time without moving your eyes.
Owl: kind of bird hunts at night and has large eyes.
Merry: happy.
Greasy: full of oil.
Keel: cooling.
Blow: to remove.
Cough: pushing air out of your throat with tough sound because you are sick.
Parson: the man of the church.
Saw: a tool with sharp points, used for cutting wood.
Brood: to think sadly.
Marian: name of a girl.
Raw: uncooked.
Roasted: to cook or be cooked in an oven or over a fire.
Crabs: a wild fruit (green apple).
Hiss: sound (hiss).
Bowl: a wide round container that is open at the top, used for holding liquids, food etc.
Paraphrasing + imagery + figure of speech:
When icicles hang by the wall
The poet describes the ice that hangs down from the roof in a way to describe how cold the
weather is. Here we have visual image.
And Dick the shepherd blows his nail
He is talking about a shepherd called Dick who is sitting out side suffering from the cold
weather and he is trying to warm his hand. Here we have image of feeling the skin (very
cold).
And Tom bears logs into the hall
Another man called Tom is carrying the peaces of wood that he cut to store. He is working
extremely hard in cutting the wood. Here we have visual image (hard work, very cold).
And milk comes frozen home in pail
Even the milk becomes frozen from the very cold weather. The image here is visual.
When blood is nipped and ways be foul
The blood in the veins of the people is also becomes frozen and all the roads are very dirty.
The image is feeling because you feel it in your skin and visual image (dirty roads).
Then nightly sings the staring owl
Every night the owl is singing it is song "Tu-with_tu-who". The image is hearing.
"Tu-with.tu-who"
This is the song that the owl is singing every night. It is a scary sound and not nice. Here we
have hearing image.
A merry note
He found the song is very happy. There is an irony (figure of speech) in this line because the
sound of the owl is very ugly and scary but he found it happy because it is the only sound he
could hear at night in the winter. The image is hearing.
While greasy Joan doth keel the pot
In the time that dirty Joan is keeling the pot, this is a pleasant image for John who is
preparing the warm food in a cold winter. In other hand, Joan looks dirty because cleaning
clothes is a very hard work in winter. We have here visual image.
When all aloud the wind doth blow
It is a description for the loud sound of the wind, it is a sound imagery because in this line
you can imagine that you are hearing the wind blows. The image is hearing.
And coughing drowns the parsons saw
The voice of the sick people in the church while they are coughing is very loud and annoying
so he describes it as the sound of the saw and no one can hear the parsons talking. Here we
have hearing image and metaphor.
And birds sit brooding in the snow
The birds are sitting sadly and not singing because of the snowy weather. The image is visual.
And Marian's nose looks red and row
The little girl Marian has a red and row nose because of the very cold weather and sickness.
Here we have visual image and metaphor.
When roasted crabs hiss in the bowl
Heated green apples are making a hissing sound in the dish because of the cold weather. The
image is hearing.
Theme:
Poetry should not just deals exclusively with beauty like sunset, flowers, or love. The
function of poetry is sometimes to be ugly rather than beautiful, and poetry may deal with
common goals and grassy cooks as good as with sunset and flowers.
The poem contains no moral, no lessons, no messages like some readers wants.
The main theme in this poem is about the tough and extremely cold winter. It is descriptive
poem for conditions that people went through in the cold winter in that time