Broken Dreams - A poem by William Butler Yeats

William Butler Yeats - Broken Dreams

There is grey in your hair.
Young men no longer suddenly catch their breath
When you are passing;
But maybe some old gaffer mutters a blessing
Because it was your prayer
Recovered him upon the bed of death.
For your sole sake - that all heart's ache have known,
And given to others all heart's ache,
From meagre girlhood's putting on
Burdensome beauty -- for your sole sake
Heaven has put away the stroke of her doom,
So great her portion in that peace you make
By merely walking in a room.

Your beauty can but leave among us
Vague memories, nothing but memories.
A young man when the old men are done talking
Will say to an old man, 'Tell me of that lady
The poet stubborn with his passion sang us
When age might well have chilled his blood.'

Vague memories, nothing but memories,
But in the grave all, all, shall be renewed.
The certainty that I shall see that lady
Leaning or standing or walking
In the first loveliness of womanhood,
And with the fervour of my youthful eyes,
Has set me muttering like a fool.

You are more beautiful than any one,
And yet your body had a flaw:
Your small hands were not beautiful,
And I am afraid that you will run
And paddle to the wrist
In that mysterious, always brimming lake
Where those What have obeyed the holy law
paddle and are perfect.  Leave unchanged
The hands that I have kissed,
For old sake's sake.

The last stroke of midnight dies.
All day in the one chair
From dream to dream and rhyme to rhyme I have ranged
In rambling talk with an image of air:
Vague memories, nothing but memories.

Added: on April 28th, 2005 at 6:52 PM | Viewed: 4361 times | Comments (3)

Broken Dreams - Comments and Information
Poet: William Butler Yeats Poem: Broken Dreams Volume: The Wild Swans at Coole Year: Published/Written in 1919 Comment 3 of 3, added on March 21st, 2006 at 6:41 PM. He isnt speaking about her being ugly with age but rather how he is saving her beauty by writting about it. even long after her hair is gray people will speak of her because of how he wrote her. Annmarie Comment 2 of 3, added on September 26th, 2005 at 8:58 AM. The woman in this poem is Maud Goone, the love of his life. She never fell in love with him, but they remained freind for the extent of their lives. This poem is just addressing the fact he still sees the beauty in her, the young beauty and the the old beauty, while others just see and old lady. Meagan from Zambia Comment 1 of 3, added on April 28th, 2005 at 6:52 PM. It took me a while to soak up what William's poem was trying to say. He talks of a woman who used to be beautiful and make all the men gasp when she walked by. But now she is old and her hair "grey" and nobody looks at her twice. All that remains of her days of glory and attention is the old memories of the old men who remember her. Perhaps Yeats is suggesting that beauty dies eventually, and is passed on from one youthful generation to the next. Stacey from Australia More Comments >> Are you looking for more information on this poem? Perhaps you are trying to analyze it? The poem, Broken Dreams, has received 3 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
Broken Dreams Volume: The Wild Swans at Coole Year: Published/Written in 1919 Last read: 2008-12-04 14:52:28 Viewed 4361 times. Added on April 28th, 2005 at 6:52 PM.

Yeats Info
Biography More Poems (363 poems) Books