When I do count the clock that tells the time,
And see the brave day sunk in hideous night;
When I behold the violet past prime,
And sable curls all silver'd o'er with white;
When lofty trees I see barren of leaves
Which erst from heat did canopy the herd,
And summer's green all girded up in sheaves
Borne on the beir with white and bristly beard,
Then of thy beauty do I question make,
That thou among the wastes of time must go,
Since sweets and beauties do themselves forsake
And die as fast as they see others grow;
And nothing 'gainst Time's scythe can make defence
Save breed, to brave him when he takes thee hence.
William Shakespeare
And see the brave day sunk in hideous night;
When I behold the violet past prime,
And sable curls all silver'd o'er with white;
When lofty trees I see barren of leaves
Which erst from heat did canopy the herd,
And summer's green all girded up in sheaves
Borne on the beir with white and bristly beard,
Then of thy beauty do I question make,
That thou among the wastes of time must go,
Since sweets and beauties do themselves forsake
And die as fast as they see others grow;
And nothing 'gainst Time's scythe can make defence
Save breed, to brave him when he takes thee hence.
William Shakespeare
Yes, it's that time again, the time I dread when we turn back the clock (and I'm not talking about getting nostalgic). It'll be dark by 5 p.m. now. It is, in a word, depressing. November is pretty much of a downer, with its focus on death and remembrance. The year is passing away, the garden is fading away, and the light is dimming. But what can you do? Me, I'm typing this while wearing my Dia de los Muertos pjs with the bright floral skulls. It's a good thing I like dark humor. Turn on the light box and pass the dark chocolates.
Garden Bloggers' Muse Day is hosted by Carolyn Gail of Sweet Home & Garden Chicago. Click here to find all the Muse Day posts.
23 comments:
Skulls on your pj's???!!!! I had to read that several times to believe it. Ha...
I do hope it isn't as depressing as you think it will be. Ole Shakespeare sure knows how to turn a phrase.
I don't believe you found a sonnet by Shakespeare that I don't even remember! But so appropriate. I'm like you--November always seems like such a gloomy month. I always hated coming home after work when it was dark most of all. But as you say, what can you do? Chocolates sound like a good cure to me:)
Great Halloween post! There's not much you can do about Mr. Freeze, but that Demon of the Night has to be very annoying.
Not my favorite month...where I grew up it was gray and very cold...dismal. Having a house with a fireplace and moving south helped tremendously! Barring that the light box and chocolate works!
Gail
We have extra halloween chocolate again this year. Darn. And it's even the kind I like. How'd that happen? 72 here today--it's not November, it's May! I just planted annuals.... :)
An excellent muse for the NO month, MMD! This is normally not my favourite month at all, because of the darkness. I just keep telling myself that six weeks from now the days will be getting longer again.
Actually, I like the "fall back" of time in November, because it means it is almost daylight when I go to work instead of pitch black.
And those are fancy pjs!
Carol, May Dreams Gardens
Cute pjs! I just got home from Austin's Dia de los Muertos parade, which was so fun. I'll have a post soon.
MMD, I think you need more time under that light box and a bigger box of chocolate! Think of it this way-Christmas is alomost here! I actually like this month. I get to light a fire and enjoy it for hours. And a dreay November day is prfect for a long nap under a warm afgan.
Skulls on your pjs??
Hi, MMD! Well, November can have its ups and downs with the weather, but right now, it's still pretty, we've good weather and I can still get outdoors to rake and generally "hang out!"
I ate all my chocolate already. bummer.
Great selection for Muse Day, MMD. I've never liked November either except I have a daughter born in this month and soon-to-be granddaughter and then there's my wedding anniversary on the 1st and Thanksgiving to look forward to.
So, I'm learning to love it.
Lisa - actually, it's still lovely outside. A couple of the Maples on the street have just started to turn and the highs have been in the 60s. There are still some plants blooming too.
Rose - "Brush up your Shakespeare. Start quoting him now." (Remember that from "Kiss Me Kate"?) I feel so bad for everyone (including my husband) who leave for work when it's dark & come home after dark. At least we're in for some sunny days.
Gail - I was looking at my garden journal entries for November. In November 1998 I wrote "This gloom is starting to get to me." In 2004 is the following entry: "What is the sun, again?" Those two pretty much sum up my feeling about November.
Benjamin Vogt - spoken like a true gardener (which implies being an optimist).
Jodi - yes, it's getting to be your favorite time of year. Just think, soon it will be Farch!
Carol - the change of time does make it easier to get up in the morning for a couple of weeks. Then the days get so short that it really doesn't help anymore.
Pam - a Dia de los Muertos parade sounds like fun. November needs all the color & partying it can get.
Beckie - I've got to confess that I really don't like Christmas. Too busy, too crazy, too stressful, often too cold, call me Mrs. Scrooge. (Which makes sense because I'm married to Ebenezer Scrooge.) The pjs are from Nick & Nora, which are my & my daughter's favorite pjs. They are very fun.
Shady - candy season has just begun! It runs from October through Easter, so there's plenty of time to get more. :-P
Carolyn Gail - you have a lot of fun events in November. Actually, I like Thanksgiving.
Thanks for the reminder of the shorter days! ;)
As always, MMD, you made me laugh out loud even. I can just see you with your skull embossed pjs waiting out winter's chill. I especially loved the light box and pass the dark chocolates. Happy Muse Day.~~Dee
You could move to Florida and plant a white garden you can see at night, like me. :D Now, where do I get the pjs with the skulls on them . . .
Such a beautiful sonnet. Ya gotta love that Will.
(I'm wearing my Pink Floyd "Dark Side of the Moon" PJs as I type this. Fitting enough for your "dark humor" themed post?)
It was indeed hard 'falling back' today and with you about jumping into jammies early ... with a good book and a pocketful of peanut M&Ms!
November is a dull month, I think...but we'll have to endure - it's soon getting lighter again.
Shakespeare's words are great for November!
Katarina
I guess I've never really minded November too much. Well, except the early darkness part I guess. I have three nephews born in November, there's Thanksgiving, and my parent's anniversary was the end of November. It's January I dread.
Perennial Gardener - as if we needed any reminders! I found myself out working in the dark twice last week.
Dee - I'm glad I could brighten your day bit.
Wicked Gardener - my folks spend most of winter in Florida. I think that's the best way to do it. The pjs came from Target.
TC - I want "Dark Side"pjs!
Joey - I prefer the pure chocolate experience unencumbered by nuts of any sort, though I sometimes make an exception for Baci.
Katarina - November still has some beautiful leaf color. It's December that's so bleak if there's no snow.
Cinj - I live in a state of denial about January.
Our clocks went back at the end of October and I always hate that day. I feel like I want to hibernate until the spring, when I'll wake up and it'll be light again!
At least this winter there's blogging buddies to cheer me up until then!
VP - the clocks used to go back just before Halloween, but the new system has extended Daylight Savings time by 2 weeks. If it weren't for blogging, I'd have to consider moving to Florida or Arizona. (I hate hot weather.)
Hi,MMD, I'm catching up on blogging. I love the sonnet--I love Shax best in his darker moments (I bet he wrote it in November). Salix is in the doldrums, too, and our winters are much milder than yours--but he hates it when it gets dark at 5. Me, I like the light in the morning--anyway, great post.
Cosmo - yes, we finally have time to catch up on blogging. I guess that's the upside to the end of the gardening season. My favorite morose Shakespeare line is "Now is the winter of our discontent." I bet he had Seasonal Affective Disorder.
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