All Things Can Tempt Me
All Things Can Tempt Me - meaning Summary
Art Vs Worldly Temptations
Yeats presents a poet torn between worldly temptations and his commitment to writing. He recalls being diverted by a woman and by patriotic demands, but says habit now draws him back to verse. The poem contrasts youthful belief in the poet’s inspirational power with a present wish to be numb and detached. It frames artistic labour as a steady refuge amid changing personal and national distractions.
Read Complete AnalysesAll things can tempt me from this craft of verse: One time it was a woman's face, or worse - The seeming needs of my fool-driven land; Now nothing but comes readier to the hand Than this accustomed toil. When I was young, I had not given a penny for a song Did not the poet Sing it with such airs That one believed he had a sword upstairs; Yet would be now, could I but have my wish, Colder and dumber and deafer than a fish.
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