On Being Asked for a War Poem
I think it better that in times like these
A poet keep his mouth shut, for in truth
We have no gift to set a statesman right;
He has had enough of meddling who can please
A young girl in the indolence of her youth,
Or an old man upon a winter's night.
Commentary
Yeats wrote this little beauty on being asked to come up with “a war poem” in 1919 - part of his anthology “The Wild Swans at Coole”.
I really like it. Short, to the point, and wonderfully sarcastic. There is no point at all to war, Yeats seems to say, and still less point in writing long paeans to the glorious heroes of Britain, conquerors of the Hun. Beyond this, the poem speaks for itself, I think.
–srs
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From the Wondering Minstrels mailing list, 1999–2008.
Puneet Tanwar · 25 April 2002
lovely!
Kate Dunning · 8 March 2007
Actually, the version above is a hybrid of two versions of the poem. “On Being asked for a War Poem” was the title of a revised version. “A Reason for Keeping Silent” was the original title. The original version was printed in Edith Wharton’s “The Book of the Homeless” (Boston: D.B. Updike, Merrymount Press, 1916). The differences between the two versions are intriguing and reveal a great deal about Yeats feelings concerning propaganda, the role of the poet, etc.
ON BEING ASKED FOR A WAR POEM—William Butler Yeats
I think it better that in times like these
A poet’s mouth be silent, for in truth
We have no gift to set a statesmen right;
He has had enough of meddling who can please
A young girl in the indolence of her youth,
Or an old man upon a winter’s night.
A REASON FOR KEEPING SILENT—William Butler Yeats
I think it better that at times like these
We poets keep our mouths shut, for in truth
We have no gift to set a statesmen right;
He’s had enough of meddling who can please
A young girl in the indolence of her youth
Or an old man upon a winter’s night.
Kate Dunning
University at Buffalo