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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


HANRAHAN SPEAKS TO THE LOVERS OF HIS SONGS IN COMING DAYS by WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS

Poet Analysis

First Line: O COLLEENS, KNEELING BY YOUR ALTAR RAILS LONG HENCE
Last Line: AMID THE HOVERING, PITEOUS, PENITENTIAL THRONG.'

O colleens, kneeling by your altar rails long hence,
When songs I wove for my beloved hide the prayer,
And smoke from this dead heart drifts through the violet air
And covers away the smoke of myrrh and frankincense;
Bend down and pray for the great sin I wove in song,
Till Maurya of the wounded heart cry a sweet cry,
And call to my beloved and me: 'No longer fly
'Amid the hovering, piteous, penitential throng.'



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