Bright Young Things discussion

Had I the heaven's embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half-light,

I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.

William Butler Yeats

This may have come before 1900 - but its still a favorite.

I love Yeats's poetry and really should read more of it. This one took my breath away with its purity, beauty and concepts. I love his use of contrasts and the span of heaven down to the ground expressed in eight compact lines.

I love that one... So, so beautiful...

Ahh one of my favourite poems is by Yeats:

For Anne Gregory

'NEVER shall a young man,
Thrown into despair
By those great honey-coloured
Ramparts at your ear,
Love you for yourself alone
And not your yellow hair.'
'But I can get a hair-dye
And set such colour there,
Brown, or black, or carrot,
That young men in despair
May love me for myself alone
And not my yellow hair.'
'I heard an old religious man
But yesternight declare
That he had found a text to prove
That only God, my dear,
Could love you for yourself alone
And not your yellow hair.'

one i have always liked was inisfree. "i will arise snd go now/ to the lake isle of inisfree".

An Irish Airman Foresees His Death

I know that I shall meet my fate
Somewhere among the clouds above;
Those that I fight I do not hate,
Those that I guard I do not love;
My country is Kiltartan Cross,
My countrymen Kiltartan's poor,
No likely end could bring them loss
Or leave them happier than before.
Nor law, nor duty bade me fight,
Nor public men, nor cheering crowds,
A lonely impulse of delight
Drove to this tumult in the clouds;
I balanced all, brought all to mind,
The years to come seemed waste of breath,
A waste of breath the years behind
In balance with this life, this death.

"Do not strike when the iron is hot, but make it hot by striking!" -W.B. Yeats

William Butler Yeats is one of my most favorite poets of all time. "The Mermaid"...

The actor Sean Bean reads the latter half of the poem before he dies in the film Equilibrium.

'He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven' poem that it. The English band Keane were inspired by 'An Irishman...' For one of their live performances it was recited by Neil Hannon:


www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCZ1uRYX3iU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBGZQ...

Michael Gambon reads "The Song of Wandering Aengus" - I could just weep - that wonderful voice.

I went out to the hazel wood,
Because a fire was in my head,
And cut and peeled a hazel wand,
And hooked a berry to a thread;
And when white moths were on the wing,
And moth-like stars were flickering out,
I dropped the berry in a stream
And caught a little silver trout.

When I had laid it on the floor
I went to blow the fire a-flame,
But something rustled on the floor,
And someone called me by my name:
It had become a glimmering girl
With apple blossom in her hair
Who called me by my name and ran
And faded through the brightening air.

Though I am old with wandering
Through hollow lands and hilly lands,
I will find out where she has gone,
And kiss her lips and take her hands;
And walk among long dappled grass,
And pluck till time and times are done,
The silver apples of the moon,
The golden apples of the sun.

Thanks for posting that Ivan. Just beautiful...

I finished not so long ago a Macmillan Collectors Library edition of his works which contains this poem among others. Lovely editions this series.

Roisin wrote: "Thanks for posting that Ivan. Just beautiful...

I finished not so long ago a Macmillan Collectors Library edition of his works which contains this poem among others. Lovely editions this series."

You're welcome. It's a favorite.