At Algeciras - A Meditaton Upon Death

William Butler Yeats 1865 (Sandymount) – 1939 (Menton)



The heron-billed pale cattle-birds
That feed on some foul parasite
Of the Moroccan flocks and herds
Cross the narrow Straits to light
In the rich midnight of the garden trees
Till the dawn break upon those mingled seas.

Often at evening when a boy
Would I carry to a friend -
Hoping more substantial joy
Did an older mind commend -
Not such as are in Newton's metaphor,
But actual shells of Rosses' level shore.

Greater glory in the Sun,
An evening chill upon the air,
Bid imagination run
Much on the Great Questioner;
What He can question, what if questioned I
Can with a fitting confidence reply.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 30, 2023

33 sec read
108

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABABCC DEDEFF GXGXHH
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 589
Words 110
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 6, 6, 6

William Butler Yeats

William Butler Yeats was an Irish poet and one of the foremost figures of 20th century literature. more…

All William Butler Yeats poems | William Butler Yeats Books

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