Omg I know exactly what this play is. I’ve read it last year in my English class. It’s called The Crucible, right? Based on what I can remember, the reason there was tension is because Elizabeth thought John was cheating on her. I maybe wrong. But based on what I’ve read, it sounds like it had to do with an affair or something like that.
To contrast the narrators creative mind with her husbands strict ideas
I think that Shakespeare is referring to Winter. I think so because he says,
“Yellow leaves, or none, or few do hang. Upon those boughs which shake against the cold.” Which means that the leaves are falling off of the trees and also that the tree stumps are shaking against the cold. All these things happen is winter. Hope this helped!