The Wild Swans at Coole: watercolour book cover

A collection of poems

The Wild Swans at Coole

191746 poems

Cuala Press, Dundrum, November 1917, as "The Wild Swans at Coole, Other Verses and a Play in Verse" (with At the Hawk's Well); enlarged edition Macmillan, London and New York, March 1919 (17 new poems, play dropped).

  1. 1The Wild Swans at CooleThe trees are in their autumn beauty,An ageing poet counts the swans at Coole and feels time passing.
  2. 2In Memory of Major Robert GregoryNow that we're almost settled in our houseYeats mourns Lady Gregory's son among the dead friends of his life.
  3. 3An Irish Airman foresees his DeathI know that I shall meet my fateA pilot calmly explains why he chose to fight and die.
  4. 4Men improve with the YearsI am worn out with dreams;An ageing poet gazes at a young woman's beauty like a statue.
  5. 5The Collar-bone of a HareWould I could cast a sail on the waterA dreamer longs for an island of dancing and free love.
  6. 6Under the Round Tower"Although I'd lie lapped up in linenA beggar sleeping on a tomb dreams of the sun and moon dancing.
  7. 7Solomon to ShebaSang Solomon to Sheba,Solomon and Sheba tease each other about love and learning.
  8. 8The Living BeautyI'll say and maybe dream I have drawn contentAn ageing poet turns from living beauty to the beauty of art.
  9. 9A SongI thought no more was neededAn ageing man finds that exercise keeps the body young, not the heart.
  10. 10To a Young BeautyDear fellow-artist, why so freeAn older poet urges a young woman to choose her company carefully.
  11. 11To a Young GirlMy dear, my dear, I knowAn older man tells a girl he knows her passion from her mother's.
  12. 12The ScholarsBald heads forgetful of their sins,Dry old scholars edit the passionate love poems of young men.
  13. 13Tom O'Roughley"Though logic choppers rule the town,A carefree wise fool praises aimless joy over planning and logic.
  14. 14Shepherd and GoatherdThat cry's from the first cuckoo of the year.Two countrymen mourn a young man killed in the Great War.
  15. 15Lines written in DejectionWhen have I last looked onAt fifty the poet mourns the lost moonlit visions of his youth.
  16. 16The DawnI would be ignorant as the dawnThe poet wishes to be as ignorant and carefree as the dawn.
  17. 17On WomanMay God be praised for womanA man praises woman's companionship and asks to relive love's torments.
  18. 18The FishermanAlthough I can see him stillDisgusted with his public, Yeats imagines an ideal reader: a solitary fisherman.
  19. 19The Hawk"Call down the hawk from the air;The poet's quick wit, a proud hawk, refuses to come when called.
  20. 20MemoryOne had a lovely face,One woman's imprint stays in a man's mind like a hare's form.
  21. 21Her PraiseShe is foremost of those that I would hear praised.The poet searches for someone who will praise the woman he loves.
  22. 22The People"What have I earned for all that work," I said,The poet complains of Dublin's ingratitude, and his phoenix rebukes him.
  23. 23His PhoenixThere is a queen in China, or maybe it's in Spain,Let other beauties have their day: he knew a phoenix in his youth.
  24. 24A Thought from PropertiusShe might, so noble from headA noble beauty fit for a goddess's procession, or a centaur's plunder.
  25. 25Broken DreamsThere is grey in your hair.An ageing poet talks with the memory of a greying beauty.
  26. 26A Deep-sworn VowOthers because you did not keepA broken vow cannot stop one face returning at life's extremes.
  27. 27PresencesThis night has been so strange that it seemedThree ghostly women visit a poet's room after reading his love poems.
  28. 28The Balloon of the MindHands, do what you're bid;A writer orders his hands to rein in a wandering mind.
  29. 29To a Squirrel at Kyle-na-noCome play with me;A walker asks a frightened squirrel why it runs from him.
  30. 30On being asked for a War PoemI think it better that in times like theseA poet declines to write about the war and says why.
  31. 31In Memory of Alfred PollexfenFive-and-twenty years have goneAn elegy for Yeats's uncle that remembers a whole Sligo family.
  32. 32Her CourtesyWith the old kindness, the old distinguished graceA dying woman keeps her visitors amused with grace and wicked wit.
  33. 33Certain Artists bring her Dolls and DrawingsBring where our Beauty liesArtist friends can offer a dying woman only toys and pictures.
  34. 34She turns the Dolls' Faces to the WallBecause to-day is some religious festivalFor a priest's visit, the dying lady hides her worldly dolls.
  35. 35The End of DayShe is playing like a childThe dying lady plays like a child who knows bedtime is near.
  36. 36Her RaceShe has not grown uncivilIllness cannot break a woman strengthened by her brother's courage.
  37. 37Her CourageWhen her soul flies to the predestined dancing-placeThe poet imagines the dying lady joining the joyful dead.
  38. 38Her Friends bring her a Christmas TreePardon great enemy,Friends bring a Christmas tree and ask Death to be gentle.
  39. 39Ego Dominus TuusOn the grey sand beside the shallow streamTwo voices argue whether art comes from finding yourself or your opposite.
  40. 40A Prayer on going into my HouseGod grant a blessing on this tower and cottageA blessing on a new home, and a curse on anyone who spoils it.
  41. 41The Phases of the MoonAn old man cocked his ear upon a bridge;Two old wanderers explain the moon's phases outside a poet's tower.
  42. 42The Cat and the MoonThe cat went here and thereA black cat dances under the moon, his eyes changing as it changes.
  43. 43The Saint and the HunchbackStand up and lift your hand and blessA bitter hunchback and a self-punishing saint compare the great men inside them.
  44. 44Two Songs of a FoolA speckled cat and a tame hareA fool frets over the cat and hare in his care; the hare escapes.
  45. 45Another Song of a FoolThis great purple butterfly,A fool holds a butterfly that was once a stern schoolmaster.
  46. 46The Double Vision of Michael RobartesOn the grey rock of Cashel the mind's eyeOn the Rock of Cashel, Robartes has visions under dark and full moons.