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?
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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Ritu is welcome to the snow, Michael. It looked good, but it is such a nuisance.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Thats true. I love looking at the snow, but you always need the acceptable environment too.l Here its only the (shape of) the church building, nothing else. So i am sometimes feeling like in the middle of Siberia. Lol Michael
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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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I can’t describe the tune well, more like a traditional lullaby.
Oh, I found this! Not the whole thing, sadly.
Best ishes, Pete.
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Thank you for sharing this lovely poem, Pete. It’s new to me and already in my book! I love everything snowy and wintery. 🙂
Take care.
Best wishes,
Dina
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It was sung to us as children like a nursery rhyme. I have always loved its simplicity.
Best wishes, Pete. x
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I started to remember this as I read it, but I cant remember who taught it to me, maybe my Gran as I have quite a few of her sayings and songs in my head. Nice to be remined 🙂
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It’s a nice one for you to sing to your girls mate. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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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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Tornadoes and hurricanes are rare to the point of being almost unknow here, TamrahJo. We are lucky in that respect.
Best wishes, Pete.
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I don’t know about there, but I’m just grateful I don’t live in an active earthquake zone – always something to be grateful for, right? 😀
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Yes, we don’t have earthquakes here, though some coastal regions have serious coastal erosion, with houses falling into the sea during stoms.
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Here in Las Vegas, the wind normally comes from the West or the South. In Merry Olde England, the wind doth blow, but in the U.S., the wind blows.
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I quite like the use of ‘Doth’. It does indeed hark back to ‘Merrier’ times. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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Cool poem……chuq
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It’s a very traditional English song for small children, chuq. I think it must be ancient. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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Beautiful. I hadn’t heard it either. A new version sounds good. Wrap up warm, Pete, and take care. ♥
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Thanks, Olga. Frozen over and slippery now. I have just posted about that. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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I love that. It’s beautiful. I’ve never heard it before. Thanks for sharing.
–Pam
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It is very old, Pam. A traditional song sung to babies and small children here.
Glad you liked it.
Best wishes, Pete.
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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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It is still very cold here, Mary. It has not crept above freezing all week, and the wind is bitter.
Now the snow and mud are freezing solid, so walking is treacherous.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Take care, then.
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My mother also remembers it been very bitter and cold in your part of the world, Pete. We both know this song. My mother didn’t teach it to me, I’ve come across it somewhere else, but I can’t remember where.
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You mum will probably remember when every winter was hard and cold, Robbie. The mild winters felt strange at first, now these harsh ones come as a shock.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Your fans want you to do this Pete!😁
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It will take some working out, Kim. I’m not good with poetry at all. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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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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It has frozen solid here now. Very hard to walk on, and dangerously slippery on the paths. I will probably write about that later.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Sounds dangerous indeed. Be extra careful. Still snowing here so the predictions were right this time.
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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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Thanks, Theo. I hope you were not too cold during your loss of power.
Best wishes, Pete.
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The inside temperature dropped to the level we set it for nights. since it was night, no problem. 🙂 Warmest regards, Theo
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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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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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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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Beautiful poem…a piece where we are actually thinking of others rather than just us.
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It is very old, Shaily. It was sung to me when I was a toddler, and to my mother when she was one too.
Best wishes, Pete.
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I knew the first verse of this poem, but not the rest. Still bitter here in the wind and rain!!
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It is so sunny and bright outside, feeling the shock of that cold was surprising.
Best wishes, Pete.
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So many words rhyme with East, you can do it.
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I am giving it some consideration, FR.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Including beast.
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The local BBC news here is called ‘Look East’. Every time we have bad weather, they call it ‘The Beast From The East’ on their headlines. 🙂 x
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Ouch. Bitterly cold. And you’re getting it first over there!
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Two days ago, it was -10 C in the morning. Today it is only -2, but feels so much colder in the wind.
Cheers, Pete.
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Yes its minus 2 here but I spent Thursday filming by the Trent and it was bitter!
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Hope it warms for you soon!
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I think you should, and talk of Siberia….
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I can only think of one word to rhyme with Siberia, and that’s Diptheria. 🙂 🙂
(Oh, I just remembered Hysteria, Hypothermia (That would suit) and Amnesia.)
I need to think longer…
Best wishes, Pete
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Amnesia and hysteria have the right number of syllables, ,hypothermia doesn’t, the rhythm of the poem wouLd be wrong?
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As you know, I am no poet, Sue. I will just continue to think about it for now. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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Very good
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Go for it. It’s time.
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Thanks, Masili. I am considering it. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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That’s a great idea, get Ollie in the poem!
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I have no skill at poetry, but I will think about that, Carolyn. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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Choose a particular poetry form, treat it as a word challenge … sonnets are nice.
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