Painterly wilted lettuce leaf beside a small bunch of green grapes on pale linen.

Original artwork, not a still

Antony and Cleopatra

William Shakespeare

My salad days, when I was green in judgement, cold in blood.

Behind the line

What it means

Our interpretation.

Here the speaker looks back on youth as a time of inexperience, comparing it to salad — green and unripe — while also being 'cold in blood,' meaning emotionally unseasoned rather than passionate. It's a rueful admission of having judged poorly before gaining maturity.

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