Brown Penny

William Butler Yeats 1865 (Sandymount) – 1939 (Menton)



I WHISPERED, 'I am too young,'
And then, 'I am old enough';
Wherefore I threw a penny
To find out if I might love.
'Go and love, go and love, young man,
If the lady be young and fair.'
Ah, penny, brown penny, brown penny,
I am looped in the loops of her hair.
O love is the crooked thing,
There is nobody wise enough
To find out all that is in it,
For he would be thinking of love
Till the stars had run away
And the shadows eaten the moon.
Ah, penny, brown penny, brown penny,
One cannot begin it too soon.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on May 02, 2023

31 sec read
295

Quick analysis:

Scheme abcdefCfgbhdijCj
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 500
Words 108
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 16

William Butler Yeats

William Butler Yeats was an Irish poet and one of the foremost figures of 20th century literature. more…

All William Butler Yeats poems | William Butler Yeats Books

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