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Poet: William Butler Yeats
Poem: To A Friend Whose Work Has Come To Nothing
Volume: Responsibilities
Year: Published/Written in 1914
Comment 2 of 2, added on November 8th, 2007 at 2:56 PM.
Seems to me that the central point is that there's no failure if you have done what you now to be right. Often people receive acclaim even for lies and despicable acts, while "no good deed goes unpunished", but Yeats seems to be telling this friend to feel no shame however he be judged by others, because he did the right thing. Or to quote a wise man whose name eludes me "Remember that insults are like bad coins. You can’t avoid getting them, but you can always refuse to accept them." Failure in the eyes of others is irrelevant as long as you did your best and your intentions were good.
Sigve R. Leland from Norway
Comment 1 of 2, added on September 8th, 2005 at 6:05 PM.
Yeats here seems to be looking at the difficulty of coping with apparent failure. He seems to be suggesting that one should not take such defeat in a personal and egotistical way.
Criticism is unlikely to come other than from those who would feel in any case no shame at being proved wrong themselves in that criticism.
Being 'honour-bred' we should look at the universal picture and be neutral to the outcome of any venture. Turning away from criticism, coming back to a still point understanding is far more difficult to achieve than becoming embroiled in the ego perception of failure.
Chris Paice from New Zealand
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Seems to me that the central point is that there's no failure if you have done what you now to be right. Often people receive acclaim even for lies and despicable acts, while "no good deed goes unpunished", but Yeats seems to be telling this friend to feel no shame however he be judged by others, because he did the right thing. Or to quote a wise man whose name eludes me "Remember that insults are like bad coins. You can’t avoid getting them, but you can always refuse to accept them." Failure in the eyes of others is irrelevant as long as you did your best and your intentions were good.
Sigve R. Leland from Norway