History & Politics

To Be Carved on a Stone at Ballylee

by W. B. Yeats 1865–1939

From Michael Robartes and the Dancer (1921)

History & PoliticsArts & Sciences

I, the poet William Yeats,
With old mill boards and sea-green slates,
And smithy work from the Gort forge,
Restored this tower for my wife George;
And may these characters remain
When all is ruin once again.

✦ ✦ ✦

An inscription for Thoor Ballylee, the tower Yeats restored in Galway: 'I, the poet William Yeats... restored this tower for my wife George; / And may these characters remain / When all is ruin once again.'

MLA

Yeats, W. B. “To Be Carved on a Stone at Ballylee.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/yeats/60/.

Chicago

Yeats, W. B. “To Be Carved on a Stone at Ballylee.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/yeats/60/.

Read this poem with the Codex →

More by W. B. Yeats