She turns the Dolls' Faces to the Wall

W. B. Yeatsfirst published 1917from The Wild Swans at Coole12 lines

Because to-day is some religious festivalThey had a priest say Mass, and even the Japanese,Heel up and weight on toe, must face the wall—Pedant in passion, learned in old courtesies,Vehement and witty she had seemed⁠—; the Venetian ladyWho had seemed to glide to some intrigue in her red shoes,Her domino, her panniered skirt copied from Longhi;The meditative critic; all are on their toes,Even our Beauty with her Turkish trousers on.Because the priest must have like every dog his dayOr keep us all awake with baying at the moon,We and our dolls being but the world were best away.

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

In brief

Summary

For a priest's visit, the dying lady hides her worldly dolls.

It is some religious festival, and a priest has come to say Mass in the sick room. So the dolls her artist friends made must all face the wall: the Japanese doll, the witty lady, the Venetian lady in her red shoes and domino, the meditative critic, even a doll of "our Beauty" herself in Turkish trousers. The last lines explain, with a smile, why: the priest must have his day, like every dog, or he will keep them awake baying at the moon, and the dolls, being "but the world", had better be out of the way.

Lines to remember

We and our dolls being but the world were best away.

Line by line

Lines 1 to 4A priest says Mass
"Some religious festival" is casual, even offhand. The Japanese doll, "Heel up and weight on toe", is turned to the wall like a naughty child. Line 4 begins describing the next doll, a woman "Pedant in passion, learned in old courtesies".
Lines 5 to 9All on their toes
The dolls are listed like guests at a party: a witty lady, a Venetian lady in "her red shoes" and panniered skirt "copied from Longhi", "The meditative critic", and "our Beauty" herself. "All are on their toes" jokes about how they stand and how alert they must be.
Lines 10 to 12The priest's day
The comparison of the priest to a dog "baying at the moon" is teasing rather than hostile. The last line gives the reason in grander terms: "We and our dolls being but the world" must step aside when religion claims its hour.

Themes

The world and the Church

The dolls stand for everything worldly: fashion, wit, intrigue, art. Before the Mass, they must be hidden, and the friends include themselves: "We and our dolls being but the world". The poem gives religion its "day" without pretending to share its solemnity.

Art and play

Each doll is a small work of art with a character, from the gliding Venetian lady to "The meditative critic". The poem enjoys them as much as she does, and turning them to the wall is a game played with a straight face.

Context

This is the third poem of "Upon a Dying Lady", collected in The Wild Swans at Coole (Cuala Press, 1917). The dolls are the gifts her artist friends brought in the previous poem, and the lady is usually identified as Mabel Beardsley. The mixture of affection and mischief in the Mass scene is typical of the whole sequence.

Form

Twelve long, loose lines with alternating rhymes and half-rhymes ("festival" and "wall", "Japanese" and "courtesies", "shoes" and "toes", "day" and "away"). The long, chatty lines and the aside in lines 4 and 5 give the voice of a friend gossiping at the bedside.