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Poetry · Poem

Blow blow, thou Winter Wind

William ShakespeareEnglish RenaissancePoem
SOURCE TEXT · English original
BLOW, blow, thou winter wind,
Thou art not so unkind
As man’s ingratitude;
Thy tooth is not so keen,
Because thou art not seen,
Although thy breath be rude.
Heigh ho! sing, heigh ho! unto the green holly:
Most friendship is feigning, most loving mere folly:
Then heigh ho, the holly!
This life is most jolly.

Freeze, freeze, thou bitter sky,
That dost not bite so nigh
As benefits forgot:
Though thou the waters warp,
Thy sting is not so sharp
As friend remember’d not.
Heigh ho! sing, heigh ho! unto the green holly:
Most friendship is feigning, most loving mere folly:
Then heigh ho, the holly!
This life is most jolly.
Cultural reading

Reading the poem

Winter wind is less cruel than human ingratitude, while a bright holly refrain turns false friendship and foolish love into pointed irony.

Language notes

Text and edition

The anthology uses the first line as the entry heading. The text is a song from Shakespeare’s As You Like It and is presented here as the complete song passage printed by the witness.