You can't read "Spring" without getting the feeling that Shakespeare wanted us to consider the nature of marriage. After all, it's those "married men" that the annoying cuckoo keeps "mock[ing]." So what's the deal? Well, with all the nature imagery in the poem, it kind of feels like marriage is set against nature—like marriage is a bit unnatural. That's a pretty modern idea for a guy in a shirt with puffy sleeves, right?
Questions About Marriage
- Do you think "Spring" portrays marriage as a natural or an unnatural union? Why?
- The cuckoo's song "mocks married men," suggesting that their wives have been unfaithful. Certainly there were some unfaithful married men out there. Why aren't married women being mocked in the poem as well?
- Were you surprised the first time you read the poem's mocking refrain? Were you expecting something different? If so, why?
Chew on This
With "Spring," Shakespeare suggests that marriage is an unnatural union that dooms us humans to lives of unhappiness and suspicion. Bummer.
"Spring" portrays a natural realm that wants humans to be married and faithful. The cuckoo is like a sixteenth-century early warning system, telling all those married dudes to be mindful of their home-nest responsibilities before their wives have reason to fly off.