Penny lane is in my ears
I love Yeats, generally. This poem is so unlike much of his other stuff, but I like it lots too. Nothing deep or profound to say, though I’ll quote this analysis I found on the internets: It is a social and interpersonal phenomena to feel or perceive that we must “come of age” in a sense, before we are ready to embrace something fully, what ever that something may be, in this case love.
I think that’s just about right.
Brown Penny by William Butler Yeats
I whispered, ‘I am too young,’
And then, ‘I am old enough’;
Wherefore I threw a penny
To find out if I might love.
‘Go and love, go and love, young man,
If the lady be young and fair.’
Ah, penny, brown penny, brown penny,
I am looped in the loops of her hair.
O love is the crooked thing,
There is nobody wise enough
To find out all that is in it,
For he would be thinking of love
Till the stars had run away
And the shadows eaten the moon.
Ah, penny, brown penny, brown penny,
One cannot begin it too soon.
May 26th, 2010 at 8:08 am
To me, saying “I love Yeats” is equivalent to saying “I love toothpaste.”
May 26th, 2010 at 8:48 am
Because he is wonderful and keeps your breath minty fresh?
May 26th, 2010 at 10:36 am
Ha, yes, minty.
No, more like, okay sure, it’s nice and helpful but I’m just neutral about it. I’m just not feeling the “love.”
Talking to a penny? C’mon, have some self respect and at least have your conversations with a quarter.
May 26th, 2010 at 11:35 am
hahahaahah You kill me!
May 26th, 2010 at 11:36 am
When are you guest posting? Or was that only if I got a whole new blog?
May 26th, 2010 at 11:44 am
I actually have a poem (!) to write about. I even typed it up the other night and everything, now just have to draft the text to accompany it. Maybe for next Wednesday?
May 26th, 2010 at 12:09 pm
That was a hilarious exchange, I have nothing more to add.
May 26th, 2010 at 12:27 pm
Yes! You are on for next Wednesday! *gets out pen*
May 26th, 2010 at 12:42 pm
I <3 Yeats. A good poem.
May 26th, 2010 at 12:46 pm
I’ll take the Wednesday after that.
May 26th, 2010 at 1:59 pm
Done and done! *hangs the gone fishing sign on poetry Wednesdays* LOL
May 27th, 2010 at 7:04 pm
What creature slinks toward Stephane through all this corn?
May 27th, 2010 at 8:39 pm
Who’s Stephane? That’s spelled funny.
May 27th, 2010 at 9:07 pm
It really is!