Why Should Not Old Men Be Mad?
Why should not old men be mad?
Some have known a likely lad
That had a sound fly-fisher's wrist
Turn to a drunken journalist;
A girl that knew all Dante once
Live to bear children to a dunce;
A Helen of social welfare dream,
Climb on a wagonette to scream.
Some think it a matter of course that chance
Should starve good men and bad advance,
That if their neighbours figured plain,
As though upon a lighted screen,
No single story would they find
Of an unbroken happy mind,
A finish worthy of the start.
Young men know nothing of this sort,
Observant old men know it well;
And when they know what old books tell
And that no better can be had,
Know why an old man should be mad.
Poem by
William Butler Yeats
Biography |
Poems
| Best Poems | Short Poems
| Quotes
|
Email Poem |
More Poems by William Butler Yeats
Comments, Analysis, and Meaning on Why Should Not Old Men Be Mad?
Provide your analysis, explanation, meaning, interpretation, and comments on the poem Why Should Not Old Men Be Mad? here.
Commenting turned off, sorry.