Pure as the driven snow

Origin of: Pure as the driven snow

Pure as the driven snow

This expression for purity was probably motivated by Shakespeare if not exactly coined by him. In Hamlet (c.1600) Act III, Scene I, he writes, “Be thou as chaste as ice, as pure as snow, thou shalt not escape calumny.” Again, in Macbeth (c.1605) Act IV, Scene III, he writes, “Black Macbeth as pure as snow.” Finally, in The Winter’s Tale (1611) Act IV, Scene IV, he describes a lawn “as white as driven snow”. Somehow, it was cobbled together into the expression we know today, which has been in use since the 17th century.