Just because I can’t resist, a poem about human failing, the judgment of others we deem weaker than ourselves, and the desire to ‘do better.’ Can we?
“No Second Troy”
WB Yeats, 1916
WHY should I blame her that she filled my days
With misery, or that she would of late
Have taught to ignorant men most violent ways,
Or hurled the little streets upon the great,
Had they but courage equal to desire? 5
What could have made her peaceful with a mind
That nobleness made simple as a fire,
With beauty like a tightened bow, a kind
That is not natural in an age like this,
Being high and solitary and most stern? 10
Why, what could she have done being what she is?
Was there another Troy for her to burn?
Just because I can’t resist, a poem about human failing, the judgment of others we deem weaker than ourselves, and the desire to ‘do better.’ Can we?
“No Second Troy” WB Yeats, 1916 WHY should I blame her that she filled my days With misery, or that she would of late Have taught to ignorant men most violent ways, Or hurled the little streets upon the great, Had they but courage equal to desire? 5 What could have made her peaceful with a mind That nobleness made simple as a fire, With beauty like a tightened bow, a kind That is not natural in an age like this, Being high and solitary and most stern? 10 Why, what could she have done being what she is? Was there another Troy for her to burn?