William Shakespeare on Storm
← Back to William Shakespeare Profile
“Blow wind, swell billow, and swim bark! The storm is up, and all is on the hazard.”
“A little gale will soon disperse that cloud … for every cloud engenders not a storm.”
“Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks! rage! blow! You cataracts and hurricanoes, spout Till you have drench'd our steeples.”
“As far as I could ken thy chalky cliffs, When from thy shore the tempest beat us back, I stood upon the hatches in the storm.”
“Merciful Heaven, Thou rather with thy sharp and sulphurous bolt Split'st the unwedgeable and gnarled oak Than the soft myrtle.”
“His rash fierce blaze of riot cannot last, For violent fires soon burn out themselves; Small showers last long, but sudden storms are short.”
“When clouds appear, wise men put on their cloaks; When great leaves fall, then winter is at hand; When the sun sets, who doth not look for night? Untimely storms make men expect a dearth.”
“Swift as a shadow, short as any dream; Brief as the lightning in the collied night, That in a spleen, unfolds both heaven and earth, And ere a man hath power to say "Behold" The jaws of darkness do devour it up.”
“I have seen tempests, when the scolding winds Have riv'd the knotty oaks, and I have seen The ambitious ocean swell and rage and foam, To be exalted with the threat'ning clouds But never till to-night, never till now, Did I go through a tempest dropping fire.”