Love

The Folly of Being Comforted

by W. B. Yeats 1865–1939

From In the Seven Woods (1903)

LoveTime & Brevity

One that is ever kind said yesterday:
'Your well beloved's hair has threads of grey
And little shadows come about her eyes;
Time can but make it easier to be wise
Though now it's hard, till trouble is at an end;
And so be patient, be wise and patient, friend.'
But heart, there is no comfort, not a grain.
Time can but make her beauty over again
Because of that great nobleness of hers;
The fire that stirs about her, when she stirs
Burns but more clearly; O she had not these ways
When all the wild summer was in her gaze.
O heart, O heart, if she'd but turn her head,
You'd know the folly of being comforted.

✦ ✦ ✦

A kind friend says that the beloved's hair will have threads of grey and time will ease the pain. The heart answers that there is no comfort: 'Time can but make her beauty over again'.

MLA

Yeats, W. B. “The Folly of Being Comforted.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/yeats/20/.

Chicago

Yeats, W. B. “The Folly of Being Comforted.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/yeats/20/.

Read this poem with the Codex →

More by W. B. Yeats