Responsibilities: watercolour book cover

A collection of poems

Responsibilities

191431 poems

Cuala Press, Dundrum, May 1914, as "Responsibilities: Poems and a Play" (400 copies); Macmillan, London and New York, 1916, as "Responsibilities and Other Poems".

  1. 1Introductory RhymesPardon, old fathers, if you still remainYeats asks his ancestors' pardon for having no child, only a book.
  2. 2The Grey RockPoets with whom I learned my trade,Yeats retells an Irish legend for the dead poets of his youth.
  3. 3To a Wealthy Man who promised a Second Subscription to the Dublin Municipal Gallery if it were proved the People wanted PicturesYou gave, but will not give againYeats urges a rich patron to give like a Renaissance prince.
  4. 4September 1913What need you, being come to sense,A bitter attack on a money-minded Dublin that has forgotten its heroes.
  5. 5To a Friend whose Work has come to NothingNow all the truth is out,Yeats counsels a defeated friend to accept loss with secret pride.
  6. 6PaudeenIndignant at the fumbling wits, the obscure spiteIrritated by a petty shopkeeper, the poet is calmed by curlews' cries.
  7. 7To a ShadeIf you have revisited the town, thin Shade,A ghost revisiting Dublin is told to go back to his grave.
  8. 8When Helen livedWe have cried in our despairThe poet complains that people neglect beauty, then admits he would too.
  9. 9On those that hated 'The Playboy of the Western World', 1907Once, when midnight smote the air,Synge's attackers pictured as envious eunuchs staring at Don Juan in Hell.
  10. 10The Three Beggars"Though to my feathers in the wet,A king's wager drives three beggars mad with desire, while a crane waits.
  11. 11The Three HermitsThree old hermits took the airTwo old hermits argue about the afterlife while the third simply sings.
  12. 12Beggar to Beggar cried"Time to put off the world and go somewhereA frenzied beggar daydreams of a respectable married life by the sea.
  13. 13Running to ParadiseAs I came over Windy GapA carefree wanderer on the road to Paradise, where kings equal beggars.
  14. 14The Hour before DawnA cursing rogue with a merry face,A one-legged beggar meets a sleeper who wants to sleep till Judgement Day.
  15. 15A Song from 'The Player Queen'My mother dandled me and sang,A mother sews gold for her child, dreaming she was born to rule.
  16. 16The RealistsHope that you may understand!A retort to realists: fantasy art revives hope they thought extinct.
  17. 17The WitchToil, and grow rich,Getting rich is pictured as lying with a foul witch.
  18. 18The PeacockWhat's riches to himAn artist who has made something proud needs no riches.
  19. 19The Mountain TombPour wine and dance if Manhood still have pride,Revellers dance in vain above the sleeping founder of the Rosicrucians.
  20. 20To a Child dancing in the WindDance there upon the shore;An older man watches a young girl dance, untouched by life's losses.
  21. 21Two Years LaterHas no one said those daringAn older man warns a young woman, knowing she will not listen.
  22. 22A Memory of YouthThe moments passed as at a play,A lover remembers an evening when love nearly died and was rescued.
  23. 23Fallen MajestyAlthough crowds gathered once if she but showed her face,A poet records the vanished glory of a once-celebrated woman.
  24. 24FriendsNow must I these three praiseThe poet praises three women who shaped his life and joy.
  25. 25The Cold HeavenSuddenly I saw the cold and rook-delighting HeavenA winter sky stirs up old guilt and fears about death.
  26. 26That the Night comeShe lived in storm and strife,A restless woman longs for death like a bridegroom for night.
  27. 27An AppointmentBeing out of heart with governmentA wild squirrel mocks a poet weary of government and officialdom.
  28. 28The MagiNow as at all times I can see in the mind's eye,The restless wise men search the sky for a new mystery.
  29. 29The DollsA doll in the doll-maker's houseA doll-maker's dolls are outraged when a real baby arrives.
  30. 30A CoatI made my song a coatA poet abandons his ornate early style to imitators and walks naked.
  31. 31Closing RhymeWhile I, from that reed-throated whispererA poet shrugs off public notoriety, sheltered by his Muse and Coole.