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William Butler Yeats

William Butler Yeats Quotes

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Famous William Butler Yeats Quotes

“When You Are Old" WHEN you are old and grey and full of sleep, And nodding by the fire, take down this book, And slowly read, and dream of the soft look Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep; How many loved your moments of glad grace, And loved your beauty with love false or true, But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you, And loved the sorrows of your changing face; And bending down beside the glowing bars, Murmur, a little sadly, how Love fled And paced upon the mountains overhead And hid his face amid a crowd of stars.”

MenLooksLittlesBookSoulMomentsDreamEyeFacesStarsSleepFireGraceSorrowMountainShadowCrowdsGladBarsOne ManGreyGlowingPilgrimOverheadBendingNoddingBending Down
Author:William Butler Yeats
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“THOUGH you are in your shining days, Voices among the crowd And new friends busy with your praise, Be not unkind or proud, But think about old friends the most: Time's bitter flood will rise, Your beauty perish and be lost For all eyes but these eyes.”

ThinkingEyeLostVoiceProudPraiseShiningBusyCrowdsBitterFloodOld FriendsUnkindNew FriendsThese Eyes
Book:The Collected Works of W. B. Yeats: Volume I: The Poems, 2nd Edition
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“Before The World Was Made If I make the lashes dark and the eyes more bright and the lips more scarlet, or ask if all be right from mirror after mirror, no vanity's displayed: I'm looking for the face I had before the world was made. What if I look upon a man as though on my beloved, and my blood be cold the while and my heart unmoved? Why should he think me cruel or that he is betrayed? I'd have him love the thing that was before the world was made.”

IfsThinkingMenWorldShouldLooksHeartMadeEyeFacesAsksDarkBloodColdMy HeartMirrorsLipsVanityBelovedWhat IfBetrayedLashesScarlet
Author:William Butler Yeats
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“The Mask "Put off that mask of burning gold With emerald eyes." "O no, my dear, you make so bold To find if hearts be wild and wise, And yet not cold." "I would but find what's there to find, Love or deceit." "It was the mask engaged your mind, And after set your heart to beat, Not what's behind." "But lest you are my enemy, I must enquire." "O no, my dear, let all that be, What matter, so there is but fire In you, in me?"”

IfsMindHeartMatterEyeBehindsEnemyFireWiseColdBeatsGoldDearBurningEngagedMaskDeceitWhat MattersFinding LoveEmeralds
Book:The Collected Poems of W. B. Yeats
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“One often hears of a horse that shivers with terror, or of a dog that howls at something a mans eyes cannot see, and men who live primitive lives where instinct does the work of reason are fully conscious,of many things we cannot perceive at all. As life becomes more orderly, more deliberate, the supernatural world sinks farther away.”

MenWorldDoeReasonEyeAnimalDogConsciousHorseInstinctTerrorPerceivePrimitiveDeliberateNatural WorldOrderlyHowlShiver
Book:The Cutting of an Agate
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