Willy-nilly

Into this Universe, and Why not knowing  Nor Whence, like Water willy-nilly flowing;  And out of it, as Wind along the Waste,  I know not Whither, willy-nilly blowing. Stanza XXXII of “Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam” by Edward Fitzgerald (1809–1883)

Welcome, December

 


“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,

Tu-who; Tu-whit, 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, a merry note,

While greasy Joan doth keel the pot.”


(Act 5, Scene 2 of Shakespeare’s “Love’s Labour’s Lost”)

Popular posts from this blog

The Smooth-flowing Life

Rock Me, Epictetus!