Thread: The Lover Pleads for Old Friends - W.B.Yeats

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 of old friends the most..

'times bitter flood may rise,
your beauty perish and be lost
for all eyes but these eyes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is the poem I give to good friends who are moving away.
Classic (non-political) Yeats, seemingly simple but extremely intense in its undercurrent.

well i like it, it seems origional, and i like the italics with these, and the idea of the shining days and floods, make me think of life and how it affects this person...maybe u could continue the poem more to go into it (not ramble tho i think you would not make that mistake) or maybe just add a few more words with density.

i hope i helped at all...i really liked it

Originally Posted by Astra

well i like it, it seems origional, and i like the italics with these, and the idea of the shining days and floods, make me think of life and how it affects this person...maybe u could continue the poem more to go into it (not ramble tho i think you would not make that mistake) or maybe just add a few more words with density.

i hope i helped at all...i really liked it

Its not mine. Its WB Yeats.

This is a really lovely, brief example of Yeats not wanting to be left behind as the beloved is busy with new friends in her "shining days".

And he also thinks of her growing older, losing some of that mortal beauty,- but it's phrased with great tenderness.

A lot like "When you are old and grey and full of sleep" - but I think this one is even better.

I hadn't seen it before; many thanks.

A.

PS Does he use those italics?

I love Yeat's; infact, I have his lifes work right beside me. This poem is marked as one of my favorites, along with:

The Stolen Child,
The Ballad of the Foxhunter,
Fergus and the Druid,
The Rose of Battle,
When You Are Old,
The White Birds,
The Man who dreamed of Faeryland,
The Lover tells of the Rose in his Heart,
He Remembers Forgotten Beauty,
The Caps and Bells,
He tells of a Valley full of Lovers,
The Secret Rose,
The Lover speaks to the Hearers of His Songs,
He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven,
In the Seven Woods,
The Folly of being Comforted,
Adams Curse,
The Old Men admiring Themselves in the water,
Under The Moon,
The Ragged Woodm
O do not Love Too Long,
Words,
No Second Troy,
A Drinking Song,
The coming of Wisdom with Time,
All Things Can Tempt Me,
The Grey Rock,
Beggar to Beggar Cried,
The Hour Before Dawn,
The Mountain Tomb,
Closing Rhyme,
The Wild Swans at Coole,
Men Improve With years,
The Scholars,
The Fisherman,
The hawk,
Broken Dreams,
The Ballon of the Mind,

.......And that is just from his first seven books. What are some of your favorites?

Ps, to answer the question: this is how the poem should be formatted....



The Lover pleads with his Friend for Old Friends

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 of old friends the most:
Time's bitter flood will rise,
Your beauty perish and be lost
For all eyes but these eyes.