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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
SIXTEEN DEAD MEN, by WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS Poet Analysis Poet's Biography
First Line: O but we talked at large before
Last Line: That converse bone to bone?
Alternate Author Name(s): Yeats, W. B.
Subject(s): Ireland - Rebellions
First Line: O but we talked at large before
Last Line: That converse bone to bone?
Alternate Author Name(s): Yeats, W. B.
Subject(s): Ireland - Rebellions
O BUT we talked at large before
The sixteen men were shot,
But who can talk of give and take,
What should be and what not
While those dead men are loitering there
To stir the boiling pot?
You say that we should still the land
Till Germany's overcome;
But who is there to argue that
Now Pearse is deaf and dumb?
And is their logic to outweigh
MacDonagh's bony thumb?
How could you dream they'd listen
That have an ear alone
For those new comrades they have found,
Lord Edward and Wolfe Tone,
Or meddle with our give and take
That converse bone to bone?
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