Crazy Jane Grown Old Looks At The Dancers

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



I found that ivory image there
Dancing with her chosen youth,
But when he wound her coal-black hair
As though to strangle her, no scream
Or bodily movement did I dare,
Eyes under eyelids did so gleam;
Love is like the lion's tooth.

When She, and though some said she played
I said that she had danced heart's truth,
Drew a knife to strike him dead,
I could but leave him to his fate;
For no matter what is said
They had all that had their hate;
Love is like the lion's tooth.

Did he die or did she die?
Seemed to die or died they both?
God be with the times when I
Cared not a thraneen for what chanced
So that I had the limbs to try
Such a dance as there was danced -
Love is like the lion's tooth.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on May 03, 2023

44 sec read
122

Quick analysis:

Scheme abacacB dbefefB gxgdgxB
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 687
Words 145
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 7, 7, 7

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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