Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE WHITE BIRDS, by WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS



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THE WHITE BIRDS, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: I would that we were, my beloved, white birds on the foam of the sea!
Last Line: The sea!
Alternate Author Name(s): Yeats, W. B.
Subject(s): Birds


I would that we were, my beloved, white birds on the foam of the
sea!
We tire of the flame of the meteor, before it can fade and flee;
And the flame of the blue star of twilight, hung low on the rim of the
sky,
Has awaked in our hearts, my beloved, a sadness that may not die.

A weariness comes from those dreamers, dew dabbled, the lily and
rose;
Ah, dream not of them, my beloved, the flame of the meteor that
goes,
Or the flame of the blue star that lingers hung low in the fall of the
dew:
For I would we were changed to white birds on the wandering foam:
I and you!

I am haunted by numberless islands, and many a Danaan shore,
Where Time would surely forget us, and Sorrow come near us no
more;
Soon far from the rose and the lily, and fret of the flames would we
be,
Were we only white birds, my beloved, buoyed out on the foam of
the sea!





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