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Home  »  The World’s Best Poetry  »  “Blow, blow, thou winter wind”

Bliss Carman, et al., eds. The World’s Best Poetry. 1904.

III. Adversity

“Blow, blow, thou winter wind”

William Shakespeare (1564–1616)

From “As You Like It,” Act II. Sc. 7.

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,

Thou dost not bite so nigh

As benefits forgot:

Though thou the waters warp,

Thy sting is not so sharp

As 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!