His Phoenix

W. B. Yeatsfirst published 1917from The Wild Swans at Coole32 lines

There is a queen in China, or maybe it’s in Spain,And birthdays and holidays such praises can be heardOf her unblemished lineaments, a whiteness with no stain,That she might be that sprightly girl who was trodden by a bird;And there’s a score of duchesses, surpassing womankind,Or who have found a painter to make them so for payAnd smooth out stain and blemish with the elegance of his mind:I knew a phoenix in my youth so let them have their day.

The young men every night applaud their Gaby’s laughing eye,And Ruth St. Denis had more charm although she had poor luck,From nineteen hundred nine or ten, Pavlova’s had the cry,And there’s a player in the States who gathers up her cloakAnd flings herself out of the room when Juliet would be brideWith all a woman’s passion, a child’s imperious way,And there are⁠—but no matter if there are scores beside:I knew a phoenix in my youth so let them have their day.

There’s Margaret and Marjorie and Dorothy and Nan,A Daphne and a Mary who live in privacy;One’s had her fill of lovers, another’s had but one,Another boasts, “I pick and choose and have but two or three.”If head and limb have beauty and the instep’s high and lightThey can spread out what sail they please for all I have to say,Be but the breakers of men’s hearts or engines of delight:I knew a phoenix in my youth so let them have their day.

There’ll be that crowd, that barbarous crowd, through all the centuries,And who can say but some young belle may walk and talk men wildWho is my beauty’s equal, though that my heart denies,But not the exact likeness, the simplicity of a child,And that proud look as though she had gazed into the burning sun,And all the shapely body no tittle gone astray,I mourn for that most lonely thing; and yet God’s will be done,I knew a phoenix in my youth so let them have their day.

Text: Poetry, by W. B. Yeats (Standard Ebooks, 2024), from the collected editions of 1908 to 1928. Public domain.

In brief

Summary

Let other beauties have their day: he knew a phoenix in his youth.

The poet runs through the celebrated beauties of his day with amused tolerance: queens and duchesses praised on birthdays or flattered by painters, the dancers and actresses the young men applaud, and a list of private women with their lovers. None of them troubles him, because "I knew a phoenix in my youth". In the last stanza the tone deepens. Some young beauty may yet equal her, but none will have her exact likeness: the simplicity of a child, a proud look as though she had gazed into the sun, a shapely body. He mourns "that most lonely thing", and lets the others have their day.

Lines to remember

I knew a phoenix in my youth so let them have their day.

And that proud look as though she had gazed into the burning sun,

I mourn for that most lonely thing; and yet God's will be done,

Line by line

Lines 1 to 8Queens and duchesses
The poem opens with a shrug, "a queen in China, or maybe it's in Spain", praised for a whiteness "with no stain", as though she were Leda, "trodden by a bird". Duchesses pay painters to "smooth out stain and blemish". The refrain dismisses them all.
Lines 9 to 16Dancers and actresses
Now the famous performers of the day: Gaby with her "laughing eye", Ruth St. Denis, Pavlova, an American actress playing Juliet "With all a woman's passion, a child's imperious way". He breaks off, "but no matter", and returns to his refrain.
Lines 17 to 24Margaret and Marjorie
A roll call of first names, "Margaret and Marjorie and Dorothy and Nan", women living in private with one lover, many or "two or three". If they are beautiful they may "spread out what sail they please", whether "breakers of men's hearts or engines of delight".
Lines 25 to 32That most lonely thing
The "barbarous crowd" will always be there, and some belle may even equal her. But none will have "the exact likeness": "the simplicity of a child", the proud look of one who "had gazed into the burning sun". "I mourn for that most lonely thing" turns the jaunty refrain into a lament.

Themes

Unique beauty

A phoenix is a legendary bird of which only one exists at a time. Calling her a phoenix makes her beauty singular: other women may be as lovely, but none can be "the exact likeness". The details he gives, "the simplicity of a child" and "that proud look", describe character as much as appearance.

Fame and fashion

The first three stanzas are full of names in the news: queens, duchesses, Gaby, Pavlova, "a player in the States". Their beauty is public, applauded "every night", sometimes paid for. Against this fashionable parade the poet sets a private memory, and the refrain's "let them have their day" hints that their day will pass.

Loss and memory

"I knew a phoenix in my youth" is in the past tense. The tolerance of the refrain hides grief, which surfaces in the last stanza: "I mourn for that most lonely thing; and yet God's will be done". The phoenix belongs to his youth, and the poem is as much about lost time as about her.

Context

The poem was collected in The Wild Swans at Coole, published by the Cuala Press in 1917. The phoenix is usually read as Maud Gonne, whom Yeats first met in 1889 and loved for most of his life; he uses the same image for her in "The People".

The performers were famous names when the poem was written. Gaby Deslys was a French music-hall dancer and actress, Ruth St. Denis an American dancer, and Anna Pavlova a Russian ballerina who became famous in the West from around 1909 and 1910, as the poem says. The actress playing Juliet "in the States" is not named.

Form

Four eight-line stanzas of long, swinging lines of about seven beats, rhyming ABABCDCD, with some loose rhymes ("luck" and "cloak", "Nan" and "one"). Every stanza ends on the refrain "I knew a phoenix in my youth so let them have their day", whose ballad-like swing keeps the tone light until the final stanza gives it weight.