Do not because this day I have grown saturnine
Imagine that lost love, inseparable from my thought
Because I have no other youth, can make me pine;
For how should I forget the wisdom that you brought,
The comfort that you made? Although my wits have gone
On a fantastic ride, my horse’s flanks are spurred
By childish memories of an old cross Pollexfen,
And of a Middleton, whose name you never heard,
And of a red-haired Yeats whose looks, although he died
Before my time, seem like a vivid memory.
You heard that labouring man who had served my people. He said
Upon the open road, near to the Sligo quay –
No, no, not said, but cried it out – ‘You have come again,
And surely after twenty years it was time to come.’
I am thinking of a child’s vow sworn in vain
Never to leave that valley his fathers called their home.
(William Butler Yeats)
More Poetry from William Butler Yeats:
William Butler Yeats Poems based on Topics: Love, Youth, Time, Wisdom & Knowledge, Memory, People, Home- A Man Young And Old (William Butler Yeats Poems)
- A Lover's Quarrel Among the Fairies (William Butler Yeats Poems)
- A Deep-Sworn Vow (William Butler Yeats Poems)
- A Prayer For My Son (William Butler Yeats Poems)
- The Phases Of The Moon (William Butler Yeats Poems)
- Three Songs To The One Burden (William Butler Yeats Poems)
Readers Who Like This Poem Also Like:
Based on Topics: Love Poems, Time Poems, Youth Poems, Home Poems, Wisdom & Knowledge Poems, People Poems, Memory PoemsBased on Keywords: yeats, inseparable, red-haired, middleton, sligo, saturnine, pollexfen