How Like A Winter Hath My Absence Been

William Shakespeare 1564 (Stratford-upon-Avon) – 1616 (Stratford-upon-Avon)



How like a winter hath my absence been
From Thee, the pleasure of the fleeting year!
What freezings have I felt; what dark days seen,
What old December's bareness everywhere!

And yet this time removed was summer's time:
The teeming autumn big with rich increase,
Bearing the wanton burden of the prime
Like widow'd wombs after their lords' decease;

Yet this abundant issue seem'd to me
But hope of orphans, and unfather'd fruit;
For summer and his pleasures wait on thee,
And, thou away, the very birds are more;
Or if they sing, 'tis with so dull a cheer,
That leaves look pale, dreading the winter's near.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on May 03, 2023

34 sec read
128

Quick analysis:

Scheme XAXX BCBC DXDXAA
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 602
Words 109
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 6

William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare was an English playwright, poet, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's greatest dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon". more…

All William Shakespeare poems | William Shakespeare Books

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