The Sorrow Of Love (Poem By William Butler Yeats)

This poem by Yeats is touching, poignant, and subtle, rewarding rereading. Although the rhymes in the third verse are identical to those in the first, and many of the lines are near-paraphrases, the meaning has shifted, hinting at what has happened in between. Although the tone is mournful, there is no explicit reproach, leaving the listener to ponder what the poet's feelings may be.

Transcript

The quarrel of the sparrows in the eaves,

The full round moon and the star-laden sky and the loud song of the ever singing leaves had hid away Earth's old and weary cry.

And then you came with those red,

Mournful lips,

And with you came the whole of the world's tears and all the sorrows of her laboring ships and all the burden of her myriad years.

And now the sparrows warring in the eaves,

The curd pale moon,

The white stars in the sky and the loud chanting of the unquiet leaves are shaken with Earth's old and weary cry.