Love's Labour's Lost Man and the Natural World Quotes Page 3

Page (3 of 3) Quotes: 1 2 3

How we cite the quotes:
Citations follow this format: (Act.Scene.Line)

Quote #7

ROSALINE: My face is but a moon, and clouded too.
KING: Blessed are clouds, to do as such clouds do.
Vouchsafe, bright moon, and these thy stars, to shine,
Those clouds removed, upon our watery eyne. (5.2.81-82)

Rosaline, masked as the Princess, tries to give the King a clue that she's only second in this party (i.e., not the sun). The King just hears romance.

Quote #8

UNNAMED. When daisies 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! (5.2.399)

Like we said, Spring is all about sexual activity. "Cuckoo" is unwelcome to the married man's ear because it sounds like "cuckold" – someone whose wife is cheating on him. Shakespeare often ended plays with teasing, light-hearted songs like this.

Quote #9

UNNAMED: When blood is nipp'd, and ways be foul,
Then nightly sings the staring owl:
'Tu-who;
Tu-whit, Tu-who'- A merry note,
While greasy Joan doth keel the pot.

While Spring is about sex, Winter is about endurance. The verse points out the potentially bleak side of marriage.

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