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THE CIRCUS ANIMALS' DESERTION, by             Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: I sought a theme and sought for it in vain
Last Line: In the foul rag-and-bone shop of the heart
Alternate Author Name(s): Yeats, W. B.
Subject(s): Animals; Death; Memory; Past; Poetry & Poets; Yeats, William Butler (1865-1939); Dead, The


I sought a theme and sought for it in vain,

I sought it daily for six weeks or so.
I
Maybe at last, being but a broken man,

I must be satisfied with my heart, although
I sought a theme and sought for it in vain,
Winter and summer till old age began
I sought it daily for six weeks or so.
My circus animals were all on show,
Maybe at last, being but a broken man,
Those stilted boys, that burnished chariot,
I must be satisfied with my heart, although
Lion and woman and the Lord knows what.
Winter and summer till old age began
II
My circus animals were all on show,
What can I but enumerate old themes?
Those stilted boys, that burnished chariot,
First that sea-rider Oisin led by the nose
Lion and woman and the Lord knows what.
Through three enchanted islands, allegorical dreams,

Vain gaiety, vain battle, vain repose,
II
Themes of the embittered heart, or so it seems,

That might adorn old songs or courtly shows;
What can I but enumerate old themes,
But what cared I that set him on to ride,
First that sea-rider Oisin led by the nose
I, starved for the bosom of his faery bride?
Through three enchanted islands, allegorical dreams,

Vain gaiety, vain battle, vain repose,
And then a counter-truth filled out its play,
Themes of the embittered heart, or so it seems,
i(The Countess Cathleen) was the name I gave it;
That might adorn old songs or courtly shows;
She, pity-crazed, had given her soul away,
But what cared I that set him on to ride,
But masterful Heaven had intetvened to save it.
I, starved for the bosom of his faery bride.
I thought my dear must her own soul destroy,

So did fanaticism and hate enslave it,
And then a counter-truth filled out its play,
And this brought forth a dream and soon enough
The Countess Cathleen' was the name I gave it;
This dream itself had all my thought and love.
She, pity-crazed, had given her soul away,

But masterful Heaven had intervened to save it.
And when the Fool and Blind Man stole the bread
I thought my dear must her own soul destroy
Cuchulain fought the ungovernable sea;
So did fanaticism and hate enslave it,
Heart-mysteries there, and yet when all is said
And this brought forth a dream and soon enough
It was the dream itself enchanted me:
This dream itself had all my thought and love.
Character isolated by a deed

To engross the present and dominate memory.
And when the Fool and Blind Man stole the bread
players and painted stage took all my love,
Cuchulain fought the ungovernable sea;
And not those things that they were emblems of.
Heart-mysteries there, and yet when all is said
III
It was the dream itself enchanted me:
Those masterful images because complete
Character isolated by a deed
Grew in pure mind, but out of what began?
To engross the present and dominate memory.
A mound of refuse or the sweepings of a street,
Players and painted stage took all my love,
Old kettles, old bottles, and a broken can,
And not those things that they were emblems of.
Old iron, old bones, old rags, that raving slut

Who keeps the till. Now that my ladder's gone,
III
I must lie down where all the ladders start

In the foul rag-and-bone shop of the heart.
Those masterful images because complete

Grew in pure mind, but out of what began?
A mound of refuse or the sweepings of a street,
Old kettles, old bottles, and a broken can,
Old iron, old bones, old rags, that raving slut
Who keeps the till. Now that my ladder's gone,
I must lie down where all the ladders start
In the foul rag and bone shop of the heart.





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