Classic and Contemporary Poetry
DEDICATION TO A BOOK OF STORIES SELECTED FROM THE IRISH NOVELISTS (2), by WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: There was a green branch hung with many a bell Last Line: On munster grass and connemara skies. Alternate Author Name(s): Yeats, W. B. Subject(s): Irish Fiction | ||||||||
There was a green branch hung with many a bell When her own people ruled in wave-worn Eire; And from its murmuring greenness, calm of faery, A Druid kindness, on all hearers fell. It charmed away the merchant from his guile, And turned the farmer's memory from his cattle, And hushed in sleep the roaring ranks of battle, For all who heard it dreamed a little while. Ah, Exiles wandering over many seas, Spinning at all times Eire's good to-morrow! Ah, worldwide Nation, always growing Sorrow! I also bear a bell branch full of ease. I tore it from green boughs winds tossed and hurled, Green boughs of tossing always, weary, weary! I tore it from the green boughs of old Eire, That country where a man can so be crossed; Can be so battered, badgered, destroyed That he's a loveless man: gay bells bright laughter That shakes a mouldering cobweb from the rafter; And yet the saddest chimes are best enjoyed. Gay bells or sad, they bring you memories Of half-forgotten innocent old places: We and our bitterness have left no traces On Munster grass and Connemara skies. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SIXTEEN DEAD MEN by WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS SOLOMON TO SHEBA by WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS THE COMING OF WISDOM WITH TIME by WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS THE COUNTESS CATHLEEN by WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS THE COUNTESS CATHLEEN IN PARADISE by WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS THE FISH by WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS THE GREY ROCK by WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS THE HAWK by WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS THE KING'S THRESHOLD by WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS THE LAND OF HEART'S DESIRE by WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS THE LOVER MOURNS FOR THE LOSS OF LOVE by WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS THE LOVER PLEADS WITH HIS FRIENDS FOR OLD FRIENDS by WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS |
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