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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
HIGH TALK, by WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: Processions that lack high stilts have nothing that catches the eye. Alternate Author Name(s): Yeats, W. B. Subject(s): Men | |||
Processions that lack high stilts have nothing that catches the eye. What if my great-granddad had a pair that were twenty foot high, And mine were but fifteen foot, no modern Stalks upon higher, Some rogue of the world stole them to patch up a fence or a fire. Because piebald ponies, led bears, caged lions, ake but poor shows, Because children demand Daddy-long-legs upon This timber toes, Because women in the upper storeys demand a face at the pane, That patching old heels they may shriek, I take to chisel and plane. Malachi Stilt-Jack am I, whatever I learned has run wild, From collar to collar, from stilt to stilt, from father to child. All metaphor, Malachi, stilts and all. A barnacle goose Far up in the stretches of night; night splits and the dawn breaks loose; I, through the terrible novelty of light, stalk on, stalk on; Those great sea-horses bare their teeth and laugh | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...LIE DOWN WITH A MAN by TONY HOAGLAND WHY ARE YOUNG MEN SO UGLY by TONY HOAGLAND SONG OF MEN by EDGAR LEE MASTERS FIRST LESSON by PHYLLIS MCGINLEY SIXTEEN DEAD MEN by WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS |
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