Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, ANOTHER SONG OF A FOOL, by WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

ANOTHER SONG OF A FOOL, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: This great purple butterfly
Last Line: To take the roses for his meat.
Alternate Author Name(s): Yeats, W. B.
Subject(s): Wisdom; Learning; Fools


THIS great purple butterfly,
In the prison of my hands,
Has a learning in his eye
Not a poor fool understands.

Once he lived a schoolmaster
With a stark, denying look;
A string of scholars went in fear
Of his great birch and his great book.

Like the clangour of a bell,
Sweet and harsh, harsh and sweet,
That is how he learnt so well
To take the roses for his meat.





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