The Wind, and Snow

~ beetleypete

I went outside to feed the birds this morning, and the bitingly cold wind made me catch my breath.

Back inside the house, I suddenly remembered this old nursery rhyme from my childhood. Or poem, if you prefer.

I wonder if any parents still sing this to their children in 2021?

The north wind doth blow,
And we shall have snow,
And what will the robin do then, Poor thing?
He’ll sit in a barn,
And keep himself warm,
And hide his head under his wing, Poor thing!

The north wind doth blow,
And we shall have snow,
And what will the swallow do then, Poor thing?
Oh, do you not know
That he’s off long ago,
To a country where he will find spring, Poor thing!

The north wind doth blow,
And we shall have snow,
And what will the dormouse do then, Poor thing?
Roll’d up like a ball
In his nest snug and small
He’ll sleep till warm weather comes in, Poor thing!

The north wind doth blow,
And we shall have snow,
And what will the honey-bee do then, Poor thing?
In his hive he will stay
Till the cold is away
And then he’ll come out in the spring, Poor thing!

The north wind doth blow,
And we shall have snow,
And what will the children do then, Poor things?
When lessons are done
They will skip, jump and run,
Until they have made themselves warm, Poor things!

The North Wind
by Anonymous

The wind here is not coming from the North though. It is coming from the East. Norfolk is flat, and has no natural or man-made obstacles to interrupt the force of the wind all the way from Russia. Maybe I ought to write a new version of that poem, changing North to East?

59 thoughts on “The Wind, and Snow”

  1. I also dont know this rhyme, but it sound lovely. This day – as i remember right- was the day Ritu (butismileanyway.com) had the wish getting snow (around Kent). She got it one or two days later. The coldness and the wind were of need. :-)) Michael

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  2. I don’t know this delightful nursery rhyme. You say parents would sing it to their children? What was the tune? Yes, you should rewrite the poem changing the wind from north to east. Best to you, Pete.

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  5. Thanks for sharing, have never heard that song – where I grew up? Wind out of North/West, maybe snow – Wind from South/East? OMG! Tornado or bad, bad blizzard coming our way – WATCH OUT and batten down the hatches! Etc….and yet? In my adulting life? the weather arrives and everyone – the robin, the swallow, the doormouse – the humans paying attention? They just hunker down and say – “This will be one hell of a story if we don’t die” (John Green) AND afterward? They just say, “Okay, how can we remember to never forget what we should have been better prepared for??” – – LOL – but that’s just me and if it means updating an older song or writing a new one? So BE IT! Songs and stories are great for passing on information – and more reliable than digital, white paper archive – as far as accessing in one’s own memory – LOL

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  10. I remember that poem, mainly the first verse, which I could recite from memory but not all the the verses. It feels very cold here today and we had a snow shower earlier, which I suspect will turn to rain and it’s windy. Jon has ventured out, I stayed in to bake.

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  13. I like this poem Pete. You know how I love the snow but this morning it arrived with ice and wind, not fluffy and peaceful and soft. I hope it settles down so I can enjoy it. Until then, I will stay in where its warm. 🙂

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  14. While the wind is not blowing here, we did have a power outage from heavy, wet snow on trees causing a power line to be out for 5 hours last night, s to writing the poem with an East Wind, I suspect Anonymous (who has a lot of works to his or her credit) will be pleased, Warmest reagards, Theo

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  15. The birds seem to be more frantic at the feeders when it is windy or rainy. So nice you feed them, too. The poem is a beautiful one, and I am confident you could do a re-write justice if you are so inclined. Poetry makes us exercise a different writing muscle.

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    1. My previous attempts at poetry were poor, Maggie. I thought of just changing North to East, but that wouldn’t do it justice.
      I feed the birds with all kinds of things, mostly on the ground. I have a bird-table and a metal feeder, but they used to avoid those for some reason. I give them dried mealworms, sunflower seeds, stale bread, and crackers.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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      1. Our feeders are currently filled with Pine Siskins as they are here in an overabundance this year. We have ended up using mostly dried mealworms – that does not appear to be a food they favor.

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