William Butler Yeats
Ireland
13 Jun 1865 // 28 Jan 1939
Poet
13 Jun 1865 // 28 Jan 1939
Poet
Quotes
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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
I have read somewhere that in the Emperor's palace at Byzantium was a tree made of gold and silver, and artificial birds that sang.
Yeat's note
The woods of Arcady are dead,
And over is their antique joy;
Of old the world on dreaming fed
Gray Truth is now her painted toy.
And over is their antique joy;
Of old the world on dreaming fed
Gray Truth is now her painted toy.
Crossways, 1889, The Song of the Happy Shepherd
Fair and foul are near of kin
And fair needs foul,' I cried.
'My friends are gone, but that's a truth
Nor grave nor bed denied.'
And fair needs foul,' I cried.
'My friends are gone, but that's a truth
Nor grave nor bed denied.'
The Winding Stair and Other Poems, 1933. Crazy Jane Talks with the Bishop
Unwearied still, lover by lover,
They paddle in the cold
Companionable streams or climb the air;
Their hearts have not grown old.
They paddle in the cold
Companionable streams or climb the air;
Their hearts have not grown old.
The Wild Swans at Coole 1919. The Wild Swans at Coole
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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