Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE STATESMAN'S HOLIDAY, by WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE STATESMAN'S HOLIDAY, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: I lived among great houses
Alternate Author Name(s): Yeats, W. B.
Subject(s): Statesmen


I Lived among great houses,
Riches drove out rank,
Base drove out the better blood,
And mind and body shrank.
No Oscar ruled the table,
But I'd a troop of friends
That knowing better talk had gone
Talked of odds and ends.
Some knew what ailed the world
But never said a thing,
So I have picked a better trade
And night and morning sing:
(Tall dames go walking in grass-green Avalon.)

Am I a great Lord Chancellor
That slept upon the Sack?
Commanding officer that tore
The khaki from his back?
Or am I de Valera,
Or the King of Greece,
Or the man that made the motors?
Ach, call me what you please!
Here's a Montenegrin lute,
And its old sole string
Makes me sweet music
And I delight to sing:
(Hysterica passio) dragged this quarry down.

With boys and girls about him.
With any sort of clothes,
With a hat out of fashion,
With Old patched shoes,
With a ragged bandit cloak,
With an eye like a hawk,
With a stiff straight back,
With a strutting turkey walk.
With a bag full of pennies,
With a monkey on a chain,
With a great cock's feather,
With an old foul tune.
(Tall dames go walking in grass-green Avalon.)





Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...
Home: PoetryExplorer.net