He Thinks Of His Past Greatness When A Part Of The Constellations Of Heaven

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



I HAVE drunk ale from the Country of the Young
And weep because I know all things now:
I have been a hazel-tree, and they hung
The Pilot Star and the Crooked Plough
Among my leaves in times out of mind:
I became a rush that horses tread:
I became a man, a hater of the wind,
Knowing one, out of all things, alone, that his head
May not lie on the breast nor his lips on thc hair
Of the woman that he loves, until he dies.
O beast of the wilderness, bird of the air,
Must I endure your amorous cries?

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 23, 2023

31 sec read
66

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABABCDCDEFEF
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 496
Words 105
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 12

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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