Lovely. "Crabs" is usually glossed as "crab-apples," in the "bowl" of hot ale for a festive holiday drink called "lamb's wool," prepared at Christmas as part of wassailing activities. That detail brightens the scene a bit.
I'd never noticed before how, except for the couplet at the end of each stanza, the final words of each line end in "l" or a vowel/diphthong sound. This open sound ending these lines ("open" is probably not the right word, but I'm not sure what the right word is) lends even more closure to "note/pot" at the end.
There's something jaunty in this, the images and the tempo - yeah it's cold, our faces are raw, the damn bird is mocking us again but there is a hall & home to go into from the cold, with fresh hot food.
Yes, I think you're both right. We're definitely not in King Lear territory here!
One thing I did think of belatedly was how the women, particularly, appear in this poem at the end of a comedy about romantic love, and as a corrective to the springtime poem. There are only two specific ones: Marian, whose nose is "red and raw," and then "greasy Joan" in the refrain at the end of each stanza. These aren't the merry court ladies cuckolding their husbands. They're presented in their un-idealized real-life aspect --- though presumably somebody loves them, too. Somebody loves greasy Joan enough to mention her twice.
It is winter indeed, but not the winter of our discontent, merely waiting.
They’re 8-line stanzas? An alternating rhyme quatrain followed by two couplets (some of the rhymes work better in the original pronunciation).
Lovely. "Crabs" is usually glossed as "crab-apples," in the "bowl" of hot ale for a festive holiday drink called "lamb's wool," prepared at Christmas as part of wassailing activities. That detail brightens the scene a bit.
For Twelfth Night, Herrick advises us to
"crown the bowl full
With gentle lamb’s wool:
Add sugar, nutmeg, and ginger,
With store of ale too"
I'd never noticed before how, except for the couplet at the end of each stanza, the final words of each line end in "l" or a vowel/diphthong sound. This open sound ending these lines ("open" is probably not the right word, but I'm not sure what the right word is) lends even more closure to "note/pot" at the end.
I just love your account! What a breath of fresh wintry poetic air!
Some wonderful insights - thanks for this! An enjoyable read x
There's something jaunty in this, the images and the tempo - yeah it's cold, our faces are raw, the damn bird is mocking us again but there is a hall & home to go into from the cold, with fresh hot food.
Yes, it's not the heath. Despite poverty and servitude, there is some level of comfort and fellowship.
Yes, I think you're both right. We're definitely not in King Lear territory here!
One thing I did think of belatedly was how the women, particularly, appear in this poem at the end of a comedy about romantic love, and as a corrective to the springtime poem. There are only two specific ones: Marian, whose nose is "red and raw," and then "greasy Joan" in the refrain at the end of each stanza. These aren't the merry court ladies cuckolding their husbands. They're presented in their un-idealized real-life aspect --- though presumably somebody loves them, too. Somebody loves greasy Joan enough to mention her twice.