William Butler Yeats

The Lady's First Song

The Lady's First Song - meaning Summary

Shame and Animal Identity

The speaker describes being reduced by love to something almost animal, stripped of identity and dignity. Unable to name or understand himself, he accepts a single defining label and feels shame for his devotion. Love both wounds and compels him: his soul suffers but continues to adore, leaving him humiliated and dependent, aware of a loss of autonomy and human dignity that parallels a beastly condition.

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I turn round Like a dumb beast in a show. Neither know what I am Nor where I go, My language beaten Into one name; I am in love And that is my shame. What hurts the soul My soul adores, No better than a beast Upon all fours.

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