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by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)

Blow, blow thou winter wind
NOTE: the footnotes have been removed from this text; return to general view
Language: English 
Our translations:  CHI GER ITA ITA
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 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.

Available sung texts:   ← What is this?

•   T. Arne •   F. Bridge •   A. Clearfield •   W. Fortner •   D. Holman •   E. Korngold •   C. Parry •   D. Steele 

T. Arne sets stanzas 1:1-6, 2:1-6

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View text with all available footnotes

Note: In Steele's score, "Heigh" is spelled "Hey"


Text Authorship:

  • by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in As You Like It, Act II, Scene 7 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Go to the general view


Researcher for this page: Ted Perry

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 20
Word count: 118

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