Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, PRESENCES, by WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

PRESENCES, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: This night has been so strange that it seemed
Last Line: And one, it may be, a queen.
Alternate Author Name(s): Yeats, W. B.
Subject(s): Women; Fear; Dreams


THIS night has been so strange that it seemed
As if the hair stood up on my head.
From going-down of the sun I have dreamed
That women laughing, or timid or wild,
In rustle of lace or silken stuff,
Climbed up my creaking stair. They had read
All I had rhymed of that monstrous thing
Returned and yet unrequited love.
They stood in the door and stood between
My great wood lectern and the fire
Till I could hear their hearts beating:
One is a harlot, and one a child
That never looked upon man with desire,
And one, it may be, a queen.





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