Spring by William Shakespeare: A Study of Humor and Lyrical Description
By William Shakespeare
WHEN daises 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.
William Shakespeare
The mood of William Shakespeare poem "SPRING" (1564-1616) is humorous as it uses imagery in this lyrical poem to create and capture the essence of the "spring" season. The theme of the poem describes how the Cuckoos' cry echoes the temptation of the yellow colors of the budding flowers, the women's white silver smocks and the mating turtledoves' and how all of this can beguile married men to change his moral ethics about his married life.
The poets' use of the secondary term of metaphor add to the poem when he begins it by figuratively cautioning the reader against the emotional change that the beautiful aspects of spring, with its many-colored flowers and meadows can encourage. He breaks his metrical pattern on lines seven and sixteen to repeat the cuckoo's cry to emphasize his feelings and fears. Shakespeare's poem implies everything we understand about the seasons of the year in our lives and the phenomena of spring.
It is the effect of what we have seen, heard, smelled, tasted, and felt internally. Shakespeare's integration of the materials is flawless as it makes the poem flow while making its point and still be humorous to the reader. I like the poem and how Shakespeare takes something as delicate and controversial as the temptations of marriage and make it humorous, so a woman or man can relate.
Published by Joanna Lopez
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- The poem creates and captures the essence of "SPRING" by using Imagery.
- The poem describes the controversial temptations in love and marriage in a delicate and humorous tone.
- The poem is the effect of what we have heard, seen, smelled, tasted and have felt internally
8 Comments
Post a Commentthat's everything? That is really superficial... you didn't even analyse the imagery of the birds mentioned and their symbolism
November 20, 2010
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William.yesterday ma%5Cy lecture give this poem%2C but i don.t know%2C what the contain of it.......................W just analyze it in rhythm an rhyme.
Hi to all,
I will be writing a more thorough analysis of Shakespere's poem soon. It will be published by the new year. Stay Tooned! Happy New Year
I'm studying English literature, when we took this poem our teacher told us that this poem has a deep meaning but she didn't told us what it is. She leave this mission for us to search about I want to know more about this poem, could any one help me. =]
thnx
Commentary of Spring
Cockoo implies cockhold ... also suported by reference to the flower, Lady Smock AKA Cuckoo flower.
'Cockold' means a man whose WIFE is unfaithful ... the poem is about (through the actions of the birds primarily - "tread" in this context means copulation of the birds) making men worried regarding the attitudes and actions of the wife, not the other way around. Lopez's analysis is a misinterpretation.
This is really not a legitimate evaluation of this poem. The poem is NOT humorous because "it uses lyrical imagery" to describe Spring. It is humorous because Shakespeare is jabbing at adultery. Given this, I think you need to study your Middle English vocabulary and re-evaluate this poem.