A Man Young And Old: III. The Mermaid by William Butler Yeats
A Man Young And Old: III. The Mermaid
William Butler YeatsA mermaid found a swimming lad,
Picked him for her own,
Pressed her body to his body,
Laughed; and plunging down
Forgot in cruel happiness
That even lovers drown.
MARGINALIA
To some degree, how I will describe a few parts of this year.
ABOUT WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS
Born in Sandymount, Dublin, Ireland, on June 13, 1865, William Butler Yeats was the son of the well-known Irish painter, John Butler Yeats. His work after 1910 was strongly influenced by Ezra Pound, becoming more modern in its concision and imagery, but Yeats never abandoned his strict adherence to traditional verse forms. He had a life-long interest in mysticism and the occult, which was off-putting to some readers, but he remained uninhibited in advancing his idiosyncratic philosophy, and… (more)
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ENDNOTES
- Explore other works in pursuit of: desire • seduction • mortality • Or browse the index
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