Blow! Blow By: William Shakespeare

Blow! Blow

By: William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare is one of the greatest dramatists and poets in the English literature. He wrote several plays which are considered masterpieces in the English literature. He also wrote sonnets, that is poems consisting of fourteen verses. His works were translated into all languages.

The Main Theme:

                This song is a song taken from his play “As You Like It”. In the play a lawful duke was driven out by his wicked brother. The banished duke went to live in the forest with some of his faithful followers. Orlando was another man who was forced to leave his home to be safe from his wicked brother. He too comes to live in the forest of Arden. There he meets the banished duke and join him and his followers.

                One day while they were having a meal, Amiens, one of the duke’s servants sang that song which reveals the feelings of the duke and his followers towards evil and wickedness.

First Stanza:

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 if feigning, most loving mere folly: 
Then heigh-ho, the holly! 
This life is most jolly.

Vocabulary meaning:

Old English (Shakespeare’s words)	Modern English
Thou	You
Ingratitude	Not thankful
Keen	Sharp
Thy	Your
Feigning	False / fake / untrue
Mere	Just / only
Folly	Foolishness / being silly
Jolly	pleasant

Paraphrase of the 1st stanza:

                The poet asks the wind to blow hard. He says that the cold, strong and biting wind is much kinder than ungrateful friends. He adds that although the wind blows very hard and it is unseen yet it is not as sharp as man and it can’t hurt as man. He says that friendship is fake and love is only foolishness. In this stanza the poet invites all people to leave their false life and unfaithful friends and come to nature where life is so simple and everything is true and peasant. Life in the forest is so happy and there is nothing to worry about or fight for.

Rhyme scheme: 

aabccbdddd

Figures of speech:

Personification in Blow! Blow thou winter wind. Thou art not so unkind

Simile in as man’s ingratitude

2nd stanza

Freeze, freeze thou bitter sky, 
That does not bite so nigh 
As benefits forgot: 
Though thou the waters warp, 
Thy sting is not so sharp 
As a friend remembered 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.

Vocabulary meaning:

Old English (Shakespeare’s words)	Modern English
Bitter	Painful
Dost not	Does not
Nigh	Hard
Benefits	Good deeds
Warp	Change into ice

Paraphrase of the 2nd stanza:

                In this stanza, the poet asks the winter wind to freeze the water. He says that although the freezing winter water is so biting, it is less painful than a thankless friend who forgot friendship. The effect of man’s ingratitude is felt more and has more bad effect on human beings than cold weather that is so shocking and it can turn the water into ice.

Rhyme scheme: 

aabccbdddd

 figures of speech:

personification in freeze freeze thou bitter sky that dost not bite so nigh.


To Download the file click Here

لتحميل الملف أنقر هنا

full-width