The Poem Reader
The Poem Reader
Sonnet 97: How like a winter hath my absence been
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Sonnet 97: How like a winter hath my absence been

BY WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE (1554-1616)

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 remov'd was summer's time,
The teeming autumn, big with rich increase,
Bearing the wanton burthen 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 mute;
Or if they sing, 'tis with so dull a cheer
That leaves look pale, dreading the winter's near.

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The Poem Reader
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For lovers of language. Every week a new poem read aloud.
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Dominic Frisby