Chosen

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



The lot of love is chosen.  I learnt that much
Struggling for an image on the track
Of the whirling Zodiac.
Scarce did he my body touch,
Scarce sank he from the west
Or found a subtetranean rest
On the maternal midnight of my breast
Before I had marked him on his northern way,
And seemed to stand although in bed I lay.
I struggled with the horror of daybreak,
I chose it for my lot! If questioned on
My utmost pleasure with a man
By some new-married bride, I take
That stillness for a theme
Where his heart my heart did seem
And both adrift on the miraculous stream
Where -- wrote a learned astrologer --
The Zodiac is changed into a sphere.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

37 sec read
95

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABBACCCDDEFGEHHHIJ
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 634
Words 126
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 18

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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