An Acre Of Grass

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



PICTURE and book remain,
An acre of green grass
For air and exercise,
Now strength of body goes;
Midnight, an old house
Where nothing stirs but a mouse.

My temptation is quiet.
Here at life's end
Neither loose imagination,
Nor the mill of the mind
Consuming its rag and bonc,
Can make the truth known.

Grant me an old man's frenzy,
Myself must I remake
Till I am Timon and Lear
Or that William Blake
Who beat upon the wall
Till Truth obeyed his call;

A mind Michael Angelo knew
That can pierce the clouds,
Or inspired by frenzy
Shake the dead in their shrouds;
Forgotten else by mankind,
An old man's eagle mind.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 21, 2023

35 sec read
193

Quick analysis:

Scheme XXXXAA XXXBCX DCXCEE XFDFBB
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 597
Words 116
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 6, 6, 6, 6

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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