The Circus Animals’ Desertion
July 6, 2023The Chambermaid’s First Song
July 6, 2023
The Choice
The intellect of man is forced to choose
perfection of the life, or of the work,
And if it take the second must refuse
A heavenly mansion, raging in the dark.
When all that story’s finished, what’s the news?
In luck or out the toil has left its mark:
That old perplexity an empty purse,
Or the day’s vanity, the night’s remorse.
William Butler Yeats (1865-1939) was an Irish poet, playwright, and political activist who was one of the most important figures of the Irish literary revival. He is known for his use of Irish mythology and for his exploration of the themes of love, death, and rebirth. His most famous works include "The Tower" and "The Wild Swans at Coole." Yeats was also a senator in the Irish Free State and was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1923.