William Butler Yeats
Ireland
13 Jun 1865 // 28 Jan 1939
Poet
13 Jun 1865 // 28 Jan 1939
Poet
Quotes
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My temptation is quiet.
Here at life's end
Neither loose imagination
Nor the mill of the mind
Consuming its rag and bone,
Can make the truth known.
Here at life's end
Neither loose imagination
Nor the mill of the mind
Consuming its rag and bone,
Can make the truth known.
Last Poems, 1936-1939, An Acre of Grass
O but we dreamed to mend
Whatever mischief seemed
To afflict mankind, but now
That winds of winter blow
Learn that we were crack-pated when we dreamed.
Whatever mischief seemed
To afflict mankind, but now
That winds of winter blow
Learn that we were crack-pated when we dreamed.
The Tower, 1928. Nineteen Hundred and Nineteen
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.
Myself must I remake
Till I am Timon and Lear
Or that William Blake
Who beat upon the wall
Till Truth obeyed his call.
Last Poems, 1936-1939, An Acre of Grass
Though leaves are many, the root is one;
Through all the lying days of my youth
I swayed my leaves and flowers in the sun
Now I may wither into the truth.
Through all the lying days of my youth
I swayed my leaves and flowers in the sun
Now I may wither into the truth.
The Green Helmet and Other Poems, 1910. The Coming of Wisdom with Time
An aged man is but a paltry thing,
A tattered coat upon a stick, unless
Soul clap its hands and sing, and louder sing
For every tatter in its mortal dress.
A tattered coat upon a stick, unless
Soul clap its hands and sing, and louder sing
For every tatter in its mortal dress.
The Tower, 1928. Sailing to Byzantium
Come let us mock at the great
That had such burdens on the mind
And toiled so hard and late
To leave some monument behind,
Nor thought of the leveling wind.
That had such burdens on the mind
And toiled so hard and late
To leave some monument behind,
Nor thought of the leveling wind.
The Tower, 1928. Nineteen Hundred and Nineteen
The brawling of a sparrow in the eaves
The brilliant moon and all the milky sky And all that famous harmony of leaves
Had blotted out man's image and his cry.
The brilliant moon and all the milky sky And all that famous harmony of leaves
Had blotted out man's image and his cry.
The Rose, 1893. The Sorrow of Love
Whence had they come
The hand and lash that beat down frigid Rome?
What sacred drama through her body heaved
When world-transforming Charlemagne was conceived?
The hand and lash that beat down frigid Rome?
What sacred drama through her body heaved
When world-transforming Charlemagne was conceived?
A Full Moon in March, 1935. Supernatural Songs, VIII, Whence Had They Come?
The intellect of man is forced to choose
Perfection of the life, or of the work,
And if it take the second must refuse
A heavenly mansion, raging in the dark.
Perfection of the life, or of the work,
And if it take the second must refuse
A heavenly mansion, raging in the dark.
The Winding Stair and Other Poems, 1933. The Choice
We poets would die of loneliness but for women, and we choose our men friends that we may have somebody to talk about women with.
The Letters of W. B. Yeats Letter to Olivia Shakespeare, 1936
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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