Poem by William Butler Yeats

A Drunken Man's Praise of Sobriety

COME swish around, my pretty punk,
And keep me dancing still
That I may stay a sober man
Although I drink my fill.

Sobriety is a jewel
That I do much adore;
And therefore keep me dancing
Though drunkards lie and snore.
O mind your feet, O mind your feet,
Keep dancing like a wave,
And under every dancer
A dead man in his grave.
No ups and downs, my pretty,
A mermaid, not a punk;
A drunkard is a dead man,
And all dead men are drunk. 

1. The Old Men Admiring Themselves in the Water
2. The Rose of Peace
3. The Rose of Battle
4. The Ballad of Father Gilligan
5. The Coming of Wisdom with Time

Print

1998 Views

Last Poems

To Russian version