To a Poet, who would have me Praise certain Bad Poets, Imitators of His and Mine
Earlier titled "To a Poet"
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Text: Poetry, by W. B. Yeats (Standard Ebooks, 2024), from the collected editions of 1908 to 1928. Public domain.
In brief
SummaryYeats refuses to praise the poets who copy his style.
A four-line retort. Another poet has suggested that, since Yeats has often praised other people's work, it would be wise to praise these imitators too. Yeats answers with a single question from the farmyard: was there ever a dog that praised its fleas? The imitators, in this view, are not followers but parasites, living off the poets they copy. The long, polite title makes the rude punchline land harder.
Lines to remember
But was there ever dog that praised his fleas?
Line by line
Lines 1 to 4The dog and its fleas
Lines 1 to 3 report the friend's advice in smooth, courtly language: "'Twere politic to do the like by these". Line 4 answers with a blunt image, "was there ever dog that praised his fleas?" The switch from diplomacy to dog is the joke.
Themes
Imitation
The imitators feed on others, as fleas feed on a dog. The title says they imitate both poets, "His and Mine", so Yeats speaks for his friend too: neither owes them praise. Imitation is presented not as flattery but as a small, itching nuisance.
Praise and policy
"'Twere politic" means it would be tactful, a sensible move. Yeats refuses praise used as tactics: his earlier praise was "given tongue" freely, for work he admired. The poem suggests that praise handed out as policy would cheapen the praise he has already given.
Context
The poem was first collected in The Green Helmet and Other Poems (Cuala Press, 1910), under the shorter title "To a Poet". It is usually taken to be addressed to George Russell (AE), who encouraged many young Irish poets, some of whom copied the misty manner of his and Yeats's early work. By 1910 Yeats was moving away from that manner and had little patience with its copies.
Form
Two rhyming couplets of iambic pentameter ("tongue" and "sung", "these" and "fleas"). The first three lines are one long, winding clause, like the smooth advice they report. The last line is a short, sharp question, and the rhyme on "fleas" snaps the poem shut.
