The Old Men Admiring Themselves In The Water



I HEARD the old, old men say,
'Everything alters,
And one by one we drop away.'
They had hands like claws, and their knees
Were twisted like the old thorn-trees
By the waters.
I heard the old, old men say,
'All that's beautiful drifts away
Like the waters.'

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

15 sec read
93

Quick analysis:

Scheme AbaccbAab
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 257
Words 52
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 9

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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