Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, MAD AS THE MIST AND SNOW, by WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

MAD AS THE MIST AND SNOW, by         Recitation         Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: Bolt and bar the shutter
Alternate Author Name(s): Yeats, W. B.
Subject(s): Men


Bolt and bar the shutter,
For the foul winds blow:
Our minds are at their best this night,
And I seem to know
That everything outside us is
Mad as the mist and snow.

Horace there by Homer stands,
Plato stands below,
And here is Tully's open page.
How many years ago
Were you and I unlettered lads
Mad as the mist and snow?

You ask what makes me sigh, old friend,
What makes me shudder so?
I shudder and I sigh to think
That even Cicero
And many-minded Homer were
Mad as the mist and snow.





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