The Folly of Being Comforted
William Butler Yeats * Track #1 On In the Seven Woods
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Album In the Seven Woods
The Folly of Being Comforted by William Butler Yeats
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William Butler YeatsAbout
Written in 1902, this poem is most likely about Maud Gonne, the Irish actress Yeats was obsessed with, and to whom he unsuccessfully proposed marriage four times between 1891 and 1901.
Maud Gonne in 1901
It amounts to Yeats justifying his unrequited love in a vivid and passionate way. It’s also a...
The Folly of Being Comforted Annotated
One that is ever kind said yesterday:
'Your well-belovéd's hair has threads of grey,
And little shadows come about her eyes;
Time can but make it easier to be wise
Though now it seems impossible, and so
All that you need is patience.'
Heart cries, 'No,
I have not a crumb of comfort, not a grain.
Time can but make her beauty over again:
Because of that great nobleness of hers
The fire that stirs about her, when she stirs,
Burns but more clearly. O she had not these ways
When all the wild summer was in her gaze.'
O heart! O heart! If she'd but turn her head,
You'd know the folly of being comforted.
The Folly of Being Comforted Q&A
When did William Butler Yeats release The Folly of Being Comforted?
William Butler Yeats released The Folly of Being Comforted on Wed Jan 01 1902.