What does while greasy Joan doth keel the pot mean?
Category:
books and literature
poetry
This word, which is preserved in Shakespeare, probably signifies to cool, though Hanmer explains it otherwise. To keel seems to mean to drink so deep as to turn up the bottom of the pot, like turning up the keel of a ship. Hanmer. While greasy Joan doth keel the pot.
Herein, when greasy Joan doth keel the pot?
While greasy Joan doth keel the pot. When all aloud the wind doth blow, And coughing drowns the parson's saw, And birds sit brooding in the snow, And Marian's nose looks red and raw; When roasted crabs hiss in the bowl Then nightly sings the staring owl: Tu-who!
Beside this, what does Parson's saw mean?
Here a "saw" means something like a sermon, delivered by a parson (basically, a pastor or minister). So, when this guy is trying to preach, the cold and sick members of his congregation cough and interrupt.
When blood is nipped and ways be foul, Then nightly sings the staring owl: "Tu-whit, tu-whoo."