Sunday, January 23, 2011

The Darling Buds of January


With apologies to William Shakespeare:

Shall I compare this to a summer's day?
It is more comfy and more temperate:
Hot sun doth bake the darling buds of May,
And summer's heat hath all too long a date;
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimmed;
And every day the heat doth make us pine,
When budgeting for air conditioning's slim:
But our delightful winter shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that green it hast,
Nor shall dearth brag we wand'rest in its shade,
Nor is infernal sun our doomed forecast.
   So long as I have camera and compute,
   So long lives this, I hope it's not too cute.

19 comments:

Shell Sherree said...

Speaking of darlings... Yes, I mean you!

John Sandel said...

O, iamb in "Aww …"

Katie said...

Absolute stunner of a photo! It's not always fun suffering through the winter rains in CA but wow what rewards. Nice verse too. (I doubt Will would mind, although he might be confused about the air conditioner.)

Petrea Burchard said...

Couldn't resist. When I saw those darling buds I thought of Shakespeare's and away I went.

Virginia said...

Oh yes, I think you have some spring in your future. Here, not so much. Maybe soon or maybe I just need to put my specs on ! :) Beautiful photo too P.
V

Bellis said...

Drank in the poem, thinking "How lovely to read one of Will's sonnets over breakfast," till I got to air conditioning. Then, of course, I had to read the original as well. In honor of your brilliant adaptation, I'm awarding you the title Bard of Hahamongna.

PS Would love to hear you reading this accompanied by footage of buds in Hahamongna on YouTube.

Petrea Burchard said...

Virginia, I moved here for many reasons. Foremost among them was heat.

High praise, Bellis. You tempt me to make ridiculous videos.

Thank you, Linda, speaking of bards.

Unknown said...

I love it, Petrea....and I don't think WS would mind!

Susan Campisi said...

I wholeheartedly agree with Bellis. Thou hast been benighted the Bard of Hahamongna!

Ms M said...

Love the photo; it has such a sense of hope and beauty. And I enjoyed your "rewrite" of Shakespeare. :)

Petrea Burchard said...

Thanks, Lori. And Ms. M, I'm sure I had more fun writing it.

Susan, you don't know how right you are. Please see the definition of "benighted" here:
http://www.wordnik.com/words/benighted

Bellis said...

he he he he he Benighted: Overtaken with night; hence, involved in moral darkness or ignorance: as, benighted Hottentots.

I was half serious about the video - if it went viral, we could have thousands of new supporters to help us in the fight for the trees of Hahamongna.

Anonymous said...

You know now I'm trying to come up with everything that rhymes with oot. Maybe I'll be back.

Petrea Burchard said...

Bellis, I need to find time to figure out iMovie. I'd love to do it.

And now I have to wait, remaining mute
While Hiker thinks and 'lows ideas to root.
She is a smarty, that point's naught but moot.
I hope that she comes up with rhymes astute.

-K- said...

Nope, not too cute at all.

And your photo has so many different colors of green to it.

Susan Campisi said...

Oops.

Petrea Burchard said...

Thanks, K.

Susan, that is a smiling "oops," I hope, because you made me laugh.

Dina said...

This is wonderful! The first darling buds of the young almond tree just outside my window are forming. I will read your poem to the tree.

Petrea Burchard said...

I think the tree will appreciate Shakespeare's poem more!