William Butler Yeats
Ireland
13 Jun 1865 // 28 Jan 1939
Poet
13 Jun 1865 // 28 Jan 1939
Poet
Quotes
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All the wild witches, those most noble ladies,
For all their broomsticks and their tears,
Their angry tears, are gone.
For all their broomsticks and their tears,
Their angry tears, are gone.
The Wild Swans at Coole 1919. Lines Written in Dejection
Wine comes in at the mouth
And love comes in at the eye
That's all we shall know for truth
Before we grow old and die.
And love comes in at the eye
That's all we shall know for truth
Before we grow old and die.
The Green Helmet and Other Poems, 1910. A Drinking Song
Much did I rage when young,
Being by the world oppressed,
But now with flattering tongue
It speeds the parting guest.
Being by the world oppressed,
But now with flattering tongue
It speeds the parting guest.
The Tower, 1928. Youth and Age
I am still of opinion that only two topics can be of the least interest to a serious and studious mood - sex and the dead.
The Letters of W. B. Yeats
What were all the world's alarms
To mighty Paris when he found
Sleep upon a golden bed
That first dawn in Helen's arms?
To mighty Paris when he found
Sleep upon a golden bed
That first dawn in Helen's arms?
The Winding Stair and Other Poems, 1933. Lullaby
I pray for fashion's word is out
And prayer comes round again
That I may seem, though I die old,
A foolish, passionate man.
And prayer comes round again
That I may seem, though I die old,
A foolish, passionate man.
A Full Moon in March, 1935. A Prayer for Old Age
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet
Tread softly because you tread on n dreams.
I have spread my dreams under your feet
Tread softly because you tread on n dreams.
The Wind Among the Reeds, 1899, He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven
On limestone quarried near the spot
By his command these words are cut:
Cast a cold eye
On life, on death.
Horseman, pass by!
By his command these words are cut:
Cast a cold eye
On life, on death.
Horseman, pass by!
Last Poems, 1936-1939, Under Ben Bulben
The friends that have it I do wrong
When ever I remake a song
Should know what issue is at stake,
It is myself that I remake.
When ever I remake a song
Should know what issue is at stake,
It is myself that I remake.
The Collected Works in Verse and Prose of William Butler Yeats, 1908
That toil of growing up;
The ignominy of boyhood; the distress
Of boyhood changing into man;
The unfinished man and his pain.
The ignominy of boyhood; the distress
Of boyhood changing into man;
The unfinished man and his pain.
The Winding Stair and Other Poems, 1933. A Dialogue of Self and Soul
Search
On Anger: "For every minute you remain angry, you give up sixty seconds of peace of mind."
Essays
Essays
On Destiny: "Our destiny exercises its influence over us even when, as yet, we have not learned its nature: it is our future that lays down the law of our today."
Human, All Too Human
Human, All Too Human
On Friendship: "A crowd is not company; and faces are but a gallery of pictures; and talk but a tinkling cymbal, where there is no love."
Essays
Essays