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The Choice

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

The intellect of man is forced to choose
perfection of the life, or of the work,
And if it take the second must refuse
A heavenly mansion, raging in the dark.
When all that story's finished, what's the news?
In luck or out the toil has left its mark:
That old perplexity an empty purse,
Or the day's vanity, the night's remorse.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on May 01, 2023

20 sec read
306

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABACACDE
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 329
Words 64
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 8
Full analysis for The Choice »

William Butler Yeats

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

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    "The Choice" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 17 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/39453/the-choice>.

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