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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE PLAYERS ASK FOR A BLESSING ON THE PSALTERIES AND ON THEMSELVES, by WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: Hurry to bless the hands that play Last Line: But bless our hands that ebb away. Alternate Author Name(s): Yeats, W. B. Subject(s): Musical Instruments | |||
Three Voices [together]. Hurry to bless the hands that play, The mouths that speak, the notes and strings, O masters of the glittering town! O! lay the shrilly trumpet down, Though drunken with the flags that sway Over the ramparts and the towers, And with the waving of your wings. First Voice. Maybe they linger by the way. One gathers up his purple gown; One leans and mutters by the wall -- He dreads the weight of mortal hours. Second Voice. O no, O no! they hurry down Like plovers that have heard the call. Third Voice. O kinsmen of the Three in One, O kinsmen, bless the hands that play. The notes they waken shall live on When all this heavy history's done; Our hands, our hands must ebb away. Three Voices [together]. The proud and careless notes live on, But bless our hands that ebb away. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...DRUMS AND BRASS by DONALD (GRADY) DAVIDSON ONE AND ONE by CECIL DAY LEWIS VISITING SUNDAY: CONVENT NOVITIATE by MADELINE DEFREES SEVERAL MEASURES FOR THE LITTLE LOST by NORMAN DUBIE NEAR MISS HAIKU by ANSELM HOLLO THE PLAYER PIANO by RANDALL JARRELL A BANJO SONG by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON SIXTEEN DEAD MEN by WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS |
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