Blow, blow, thou winter wind

First Folio in the Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington, DC, USA

Geri Andrews writes
This year 2023 is the 400th anniversary of the publication of William Shakespeare’s First Folio. In acknowledgement of this, here is a song from the play As You Like It, a romantic comedy written and performed around 1598-1600. In a society where marriages were mostly arranged, it is a play about  love.With characteristic pith and wit, he observes that the coldest, harshest weather is never as cruel as when people forget to care for each other, or appreciate the blessings of life. Although not used much in 21st century English, the word ‘jolly’ comes from the old French word ‘jolif’ meaning ‘pretty, attractive, joyous, merry’. In Old Norse ‘jól’ (now Yule) was the word for the mid-winter celebration.

“Blow, blow, thou winter wind”  by William Shakespeare
(As You Like It.  Act II, Scene VII)

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 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.