Analysis of Colonus' Praise

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



Chorus. Come praise Colonus' horses, and come praise
The wine-dark of the wood's intricacies,
The nightingale that deafens daylight there,
If daylight ever visit where,
Unvisited by tempest or by sun,
Immortal ladies tread the ground
Dizzy with harmonious sound,
Semele's lad a gay companion.
And yonder in the gymnasts' garden thrives
The self-sown, self-begotten shape that gives
Athenian intellect its mastery,
Even the grey-leaved olive-tree
Miracle-bred out of the living stone;
Nor accident of peace nor war
Shall wither that old marvel, for
The great grey-eyed Athene stareS thereon.
Who comes into this countty, and has come
Where golden crocus and narcissus bloom,
Where the Great Mother, mourning for her daughter
And beauty-drunken by the water
Glittering among grey-leaved olive-trees,
Has plucked a flower and sung her loss;
Who finds abounding Cephisus
Has found the loveliest spectacle there is.
because this country has a pious mind
And so remembers that when all mankind
But trod the road, or splashed about the shore,
Poseidon gave it bit and oar,
Every Colonus lad or lass discourses
Of that oar and of that bit;
Summer and winter, day and night,
Of horses and horses of the sea, white horsffes.


Scheme ABCCDEEDFGHHIJJKLMNNBOAPQQJJPRSA
Poetic Form
Metre 101101010011 0111011000 01001111 1110101 1110111 01010101 10101001 1101010 0100010101 0111010111 0100101100 10011101 1001110101 11001111 11011101 01111101 110111011 1101000101 10110101010 010101010 1000111101 110100101 110101 110110011 0111010101 0101011111 1101110101 01011101 100010111010 1110111 10010101 11001010111
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 1,191
Words 199
Sentences 6
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 32
Lines Amount 32
Letters per line (avg) 31
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 977
Words per stanza (avg) 197
Font size:
 

Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:00 min read
64

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

8 fans

Discuss this William Butler Yeats poem analysis with the community:

0 Comments

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "Colonus' Praise" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/39304/colonus%27-praise>.

    Become a member!

    Join our community of poets and poetry lovers to share your work and offer feedback and encouragement to writers all over the world!

    April 2024

    Poetry Contest

    Join our monthly contest for an opportunity to win cash prizes and attain global acclaim for your talent.
    3
    days
    8
    hours
    21
    minutes

    Special Program

    Earn Rewards!

    Unlock exciting rewards such as a free mug and free contest pass by commenting on fellow members' poems today!

    Browse Poetry.com

    Quiz

    Are you a poetry master?

    »
    The Baltimore Ravens’ team name was inspired by which American poet?
    A Langston Hughes
    B Emily Dickinson
    C Walt Whitman
    D Edgar Allan Poe