proverb · Words worth keeping
Shear your sheep in May, And shear them all away.
Shear your sheep in May, And shear them all away.
Historical period not yet established
Understand the thought
Meaning in plain English
The rhyme warns that shearing sheep in May will shear them all away. It connects a named time and task with a drastic loss.
What the words are saying
All away makes the warning absolute, but the verse gives no location, conditions or account of the harm. A responsible reading identifies the claimed timing and outcome without verifying a husbandry rule. It can show how a memorable rhyme magnifies a seasonal caution beyond the detail needed for a practical assessment.
Everyday example
A reader records the warning as historical lore rather than using its month alone to decide how to care for animals.
When to use it
Use it to examine a seasonal task warning with its missing conditions stated.
What it does not mean
This is not independently verified livestock-care guidance.
Agent-assisted editorial interpretation. This explains the words; it does not by itself verify their author or earliest origin.
Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- Traditional
Attribution: traditional - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- Historical period not yet established
No sufficiently supported historical placement has been established. Import and download dates are not treated as composition dates. - Recorded source
- A Dictionary of English Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases
Entry 1423 · Shear
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.
- Culture
- English