Blow, Blow, Thou Winter Wind

Anna Cantwell
Mrs. Jernigan
AP English Lit
1 March 2011
“Blow, Blow, Thou Winter Wind”
Shakespeare addresses several aspects of the dreary English winter with a ironically cheery sonnet, departing from his signature sonnet form. First, he speaks to the wind, urging it on in its lofty pursuit of chilling lowly beings. Through his personification of the wind and metaphor, Shakespeare unravels the elements of wind itself, including its “tooth,” rude “breath”, and winter gust. The first stanza is a battle between physical and emotional—Shakespeare recognizes the winds bitter breath, but cedes to the deeper sting of ingratitude and man's stinginess. The rhyme scheme (a-a-b-c-c-b) materializes this warring notion. His final verdict rests; because we cannot see wind, it cannot hurt us as badly as, perhaps, a vengeful act or biting word, may. Yet, this begs the question, are those entities seen either?
The next quatrain is one of transition. It barely contains any words at all. The four lines epitomize Shakespeare's classic character of the wise fool—perhaps someone skipping along, humming a diddy, but all the while screaming a double entendre: “Most friendship if feigning, most loving mere folly.” This piece of sage advice thrust amongst jolly “heigh-ho”s provides the volta (or turn) of the sonnet.
Shakespeare ends with a a sextet with rhyme scheme identical to the first (a-a-b-c-c-b) and refrain of the middle quatrain. He, again, addresses the “bitter sky”, compelling it to continue with its freezing, because despite the lowest degree of temperature, no snowflake nor icicle could wound one worse than “benefits forgot” or a “friend remembered not.”