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William Butler Yeats - The Song Of The Old Mother

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;
And the young lie long and dream in their bed
Of the matching of ribbons for bosom and head,
And their day goes over in idleness,
And they sigh if the wind but lift a tress:
While I must work because I am old,
And the seed of the fire gets feeble and cold.

Added: on May 11th, 2005 at 3:24 PM | Viewed: 5104 times | Comments (4)


The Song Of The Old Mother - Comments and Information

Poet: William Butler Yeats
Poem: The Song Of The Old Mother
Volume: The Wind Among The Reeds
Year: Published/Written in 1899
Poem of the Day on:
Feb 25 2007

Comment 4 of 4, added on October 17th, 2005 at 7:29 AM.

i love dolphins

Tasha Rowland from Dominican Republic
Comment 3 of 4, added on September 14th, 2005 at 4:03 AM.

hey the morrisons way! errr brace yourself holly reds and emily t in da house! this poem sucks have a nice day all RESPECT BRUV!

Holly & Emily from United Kingdom
Comment 2 of 4, added on May 11th, 2005 at 3:24 PM.

If you are interested in this poem it contrasts well with 'On my first sonne' by Ben Jonson, He wrote this elegy after the death in 1603 of his eldest son, Benjamin, aged seven. The poet addresses the boy, bidding him farewell, and then seeks some meaning for his loss. Jonson blames himself, rhetorically at least, arguing that he hoped too much for his son, who was only on loan to him. Now that the seven years are up, the boy has had to be returned.
Jonson tries to argue that this is only fair and his presumptuous plans for the boy's future were the cause of his present sense of loss. He then questions his own grief: why lament the enviable state of death when the child has escaped suffering and the misery of aging? He cannot answer this question, simply saying "Rest in soft peace" and asking that the child, or perhaps the grave, record that his son was Jonson's "best piece of poetry," the creation of which he was most proud. He concludes by vowing that from now on he will be more careful with those he loves; he will be wary of liking and so needing them too much.

From Alexander
Aged 15
United Kingdom

Alexander from United Kingdom

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