Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

ON BEING ASKED FOR A WAR POEM by WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS

Poet Analysis

First Line: I THINK IT BETTER THAT IN TIMES LIKE THESE
Last Line: OR AN OLD MAN UPON A WINTER'S NIGHT.
Subject(s): WORLD WAR I; FIRST WORLD WAR;
I THINK it better that in times like these
A poet's mouth be silent, 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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