Yeats, My Influence

 

 

Born today in 1865: William Butler Yeats 

I love Yeats … came to know him early, early on. What I appreciate about him is his mysticism, his incorporation of mythology (especially Irish mythology, of course) into his poems, his diversity, and the depth of his prolific imagination. 

He inspires me to be creative and to explore not just the ‘rosy’ side of poetry, but comedic side; the tragic side; the hopeless and melancholic side …  the infernal side. He taught me that poetry is a strong, broad-spectrum realm, and by no means some tiny little limited sphere within the world of art.

He helped me appreciate poetry, and for it I thank him dearly.

On my list of poets, he’s one of the highest.

To the Weary

When Sadness Has My Soul Distraught

When sadness has my soul distraught
And twists my weary, weary bones
And owns my bright blue days with gray
And manifests with moans

I will not shrink, nor I repine
Beneath the anguish running deep
Nor sleep will I through all the day

Nor endless will I weep

For though the pain and woe are real
I know that inly I am strong
Let throngs of troubles trouble me
They cannot quench my song

-jwm

Poetic Parameters:

Stanza: Quatrain 
Meter: Lines 1 through 3, tetrameter; line 4,  trimeter

Rhyme scheme: abab dcdc efef 

Note: Notice that the second word of the third line of each stanza rhymes with the last word of both lines two and four (I thought it a good device to use to keep the poem ‘glued together’ better).