We have changed our privacy policy. In addition, we use cookies on our website for various purposes. By continuing on our website, you consent to our use of cookies. You can learn about our practices by reading our privacy policy.

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

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

Quote #7

ROSALINE
My face is but a moon, and clouded too.
KING
Blessèd are clouds, to do as such clouds do!
Vouchsafe, bright moon, and these thy stars, to
   shine,
Those clouds removed, upon our watery eyne. (5.2.214-218)

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

SPRING
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, lighthearted songs like this.

Quote #9

WINTER
When blood is nipped, and ways be foul,
Then nightly sings the staring owl
'Tu-whit to-who.' A merry note,
While greasy Joan doth keel the pot. (4.2.990-993)

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