History & Politics
On Being Asked for a War Poem
From The Wild Swans at Coole (1919)
History & PoliticsArts & Sciences
I think it better that in times like these
A poet keep his mouth shut, for in truth
We have no gift to set a statesman right;
He has had enough of meddling who can please
A young girl in the indolence of her youth,
Or an old man upon a winter's night.
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Codex Note
Six lines on poets in wartime: 'I think it better that in times like these / A poet's mouth be silent'. A poet cannot help the 'young girl and an old man upon a winter's night'.
Cite this poem
MLA
Yeats, W. B. “On Being Asked for a War Poem.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/yeats/51/.
Chicago
Yeats, W. B. “On Being Asked for a War Poem.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/yeats/51/.
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