Poem by William Butler Yeats

The Scholars

BALD heads forgetful of their sins,
Old, learned, respectable bald heads
Edit and annotate the lines
That young men, tossing on their beds,
Rhymed out in love's despair
To flatter beauty's ignorant ear.
All shuffle there; all cough in ink;
All wear the carpet with their shoes;
All think what other people think;
All know the man their neighbour knows.
Lord, what would they say
Did their Catullus walk that way?

1. To a Poet, Who Would Have Me Praise Certain Bad Poets, Imitators of His and Mine
2. Upon a House Shaken by the Land Agitation
3. The Collar-Bone of a Hare
4. The Hero, The Girl, and The Fool
5. Owen Ahern and His Dancers

Print

1787 Views

Last Poems

To Russian version