Staring Owl
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 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,
To-whit!
To-who!—a
merry note,
While greasy
Joan doth keel the pot.
(Love’s Labour’s Lost V, ii, 920-37)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrYshN77E1U
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J31Iie0CqG0&NR=1