Blow, Blow, Thou Winter Wind
Blow, blow, thou winter wind Thou art not s o unkind as man's ingratitude; Thy tooth is not so keen, Because thou art not seen, Although thy breath be rude. High-ho! Sing, high-ho! Unto the green holly: Most friendship is feigning, most loving mere folly: Then high-ho, the holly! This life is most jolly. 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.
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High-ho! Sing, high-ho! Unto the green holly: Most friendship is feigning, most loving mere folly: Then high-ho, the holly! This life is most jolly.
1. a) Title: Blow ,Blow Thou Winter Wind
b)Author :William Shakespeare
2 .Year: Unspecified
3. Facts about the author
William Shakespeare was an English Poet born in 1556.
Shakespeare is recognized as one of the greatest writers of all the time .He is well known for works such as Much Ado About Nothing, Romeo and Juliet, The Tempest among others
He wrote 154 known poems and 37 plays in his literary career, among the most quoted in literature .Shakespeare created tragedies, comedies, histories and poetry.
4. If I had a chance to interview William Shakespeare, I would have asked him where he got the inspiration to write excellent poetry and plays. This is because even after hundreds of years after
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his death, his artistic works are still forming the core of some of the most studied literary materials.
5. Formal Analysis of the poem
a) The poem is made up of 109 words
b) The total number of lines is twenty.
c) It is having 3 stanzas
d) The verse form of the poem is formal/fixed verse .It has a regular rhyme scheme.
6. What the poem is about
The poem is about the natures of the winter wind and the sky in comparison to that of man .The two are contrasted. The persona is seen to be addressing winter wind urging it to continue blowing. He tells the wind that its unkindness is better than that of man. He stresses this by claiming that most friendships are not true ‘Most friendships are feigning (line 8).The persona then turns to the sky and urging it to freeze and continue freezing since the cold weather that it bring s is not comparable to the bitterness of extending benefits to friends who soon forget about the benefit.
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7. Summary of the poem
This poem, in a summary form at the start talks about the ingratitude and treacherous nature of human being .It does this through the use of the images of the blowing cold winter winds and the freezing sky. These negative nature of human being are said to be worse that the two images. It ends by saying that in spite of all the negative human nature, life is still worth living hence we should be happy and gay.
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8) The major theme presented in this poem is human ingratitude. The author is saying that friends often forget the favors extended to theme(example ,’Most friendship is feigning (line 8)’ .To him ,the world is full of hypocrisy of human beings but concludes that in spite of this sad state of affairs ,life is still worth living and we should be happy and gay.
9) Mood
The mood of the poem is generally sad. This is due to the sad state of the world that we are living in. The world is presented to be full of treachery and human hypocrisy. Use of the word such as: ‘feigning’ and ‘ingratitude’ to describe the sad state of human relations.
10) Type of poem:
This poem is lyrical. It is given in the form of a song with sound devices such as rhyme, repetition; alliteration etc .It also has a regular rhyme scheme to enhance this.
11) The reason behind me choosing this poem is that it reflects on the fullness of fraudulence and trickery in the world. The world we are living in today is full of thankless people. You extend a favor to someone but the favor is soon forgotten. By reading it, I am able to reflect the hypocrisy in the society in which I live.
12.This poem reminds me about the play Macbeth, by the same author. Macbeth, the protagonist in the play is very hypocritical. He pretends to be friendly to some characters in the play such as Duncan only to murder them
13.Thou thy waters warp.This phrase is not well understood by me.
14. a)Thou-means you
b)art-are
Question 15
a) Rhyme scheme: The rhyme scheme of the poem is ‘aabccd, ddddd.’
b) Meter: Nonec) Alliteration: ‘winter wind’
d) Repetition. ‘This life most jolly’, is repeated at the end of the last two stanzas.
e)Imagery: The poet uses images from the cold ‘winter wind ‘ and ‘the green holly’ to express the idea that love and friendship .
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f) Personification: The winter or the west wind has been personified.
h) Parallel structure: none
i) Allusions: none
j )Enjambment: none
k) Onomatopoeia: none
j) Simile: ‘not as sharp as a friend ’
m) Metaphor: There is simile’ not as sharp as a friend”
n) Oxymoron: non
o) Paradox: none
p) Understatement: none
q) Refrain: There is repetition of the line ‘This life is most jolly’.
r) Symbolism: The cold winter wind and the freezing sky symbolize physical pain that people go through in life.
s) Irony: The irony in the poem is presented through the depiction of human relations the world. It is very ironical to do something good to someone yet he/she soon forgets
16. Effects
The sound devices that is rhyme ,repetition and alliteration bring about musicality in the poem while at the hence making the poem to be more interesting .At the same time they help emphasize on the subject matter.
Imagery and symbolism help in creating a more vivid picture of the subject matter hence they enhance its understanding.
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References
Tales from Shakespeare by Charles and Mary Lamb
“Blow, Blow, Thou Wind ‘’ from As You Like It by William Shakespeare
