Nature
Sung on a By-Way
From A Book of Irish Verse, ed. W. B. Yeats (1900)
What of all the will to do?
It has vanished long ago,
For a dream-shaft pierced it through
From the Unknown Archer's bow.
What of all the soul to think?
Some one offered it a cup
Filled with a diviner drink,
And the flame has burned it up.
What of all the hope to climb?
Only in the self we grope
To the misty end of time:
Truth has put an end to hope.
What of all the heart to love?
Sadder than for will or soul,
No light lured it on above;
Love has found itself the whole.
Cite this poem
MLA
George William Russell (A.E.). “Sung on a By-Way.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/russell_ge/3/.
Chicago
George William Russell (A.E.). “Sung on a By-Way.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/russell_ge/3/.
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