Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE SONG OF THE OLD MOTHER by WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS

Poet Analysis

First Line: I RISE IN THE DAWN, AND I KNEEL AND BLOW
Last Line: AND THE SEED OF THE FIRE GETS FEEBLE AND COLD.
Subject(s): HOME; MOTHERS;
I RISE in the dawn, and I kneel and blow
Till the seed of the fire flicker and glow.
And then I must scrub, and bake, and sweep,
Till stars are beginning to blink and peep;
But the young lie long and dream in their bed
Of the matching of ribbons, the blue and the red,
And their day goes over in idleness,
And they sigh if the wind but lift up a tress;
While I must work, because I am old
And the seed of the fire gets feeble and cold.


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