Brown Penny - A poem by William Butler Yeats

William Butler Yeats - Brown Penny

I whispered, 'I am too young,'
And then, 'I am old enough';
Wherefore I threw a penny
To find out if I might love.
'Go and love, go and love, young man,
If the lady be young and fair.'
Ah, penny, brown penny, brown penny,
I am looped in the loops of her hair.

O love is the crooked thing,
There is nobody wise enough
To find out all that is in it,
For he would be thinking of love
Till the stars had run away
And the shadows eaten the moon.
Ah, penny, brown penny, brown penny,
One cannot begin it too soon.

Added: on May 5th, 2009 at 12:56 PM | Viewed: 79818 times | Comments (50)

Brown Penny - Comments and Information
Poet: William Butler Yeats Poem: Brown Penny Volume: The Green Helmet and Other Poems Year: Published/Written in 1910 Comment 50 of 50, added on October 31st, 2009 at 4:47 AM. To Adrian from New Zealand. You must excert some positive thinking to obtain even a touch of love and romance. Keep your options open. Remember what Gibran said: "Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself. Love possesses not nor would it be possessed, for love is sufficient unto love." To further add to our inability to control loves direction, he stated: "And think not you can control the course of love, for love, it it finds you worthy, directs your course." Love is only dead if you make it so. There is someone for you - the hard part is the waiting. AntiguaBill Bill B from United States Comment 49 of 50, added on October 24th, 2009 at 5:52 PM. I love the poem from Must love dogs, can someone send me the poem or tell me where I can read it online. Jayne Chase from United States Comment 48 of 50, added on May 5th, 2009 at 12:56 PM. Reminds me of Robert Herrick's "To the Virgins to Make Much of Time": the admonition is to get on out there and love for "[one] cannot begin too soon." Am I "too young" or am I "old enough"? the answer is arrived at through the toss of a coin: 'heads she loves me'; 'tails she loves me not.' Or perhaps the speaker tosses a penny into a wishing well asking for the answer to the question. Regardless, he must already be in love, though afraid to take the ultimate plunge,as he is "looped in the loops of her hair." The second stanza may be about some realization he comes to much later in the relationship --or another one down the road, because he has learned a lesson about love: it is immense, and noone is "wise enough/To find out all that is in it"; we can only try as best as we are capable of, anf that will never be enough to fully commprehend the breadth, width, or depth of love. The personification and hyperbole of the stars running away and "the shadows [eating] the moon" only testify to the magnanimty of love's power and its inexplicable magnetism, even metaphysical phenomenon: yet, it is something we are only cheating ourselves out of if we do not "begin it...soon." Roger Fox from United States More Comments >> Are you looking for more information on this poem? Perhaps you are trying to analyze it? The poem, Brown Penny, has received 50 comments. Click here to read them, and perhaps post a comment of your own. Of course you can also always discuss poems by William Butler Yeats with others on the Poetry Connection poetry forum!

Poem Info
Brown Penny Volume: The Green Helmet and Other Poems Year: Published/Written in 1910 Last read: 2009-11-20 22:35:12 Viewed 79818 times. Added on May 5th, 2009 at 12:56 PM.

Yeats Info
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