A Thought from Propertius

A Thought from Propertius - context Summary

Published in the Tower

Published in Yeats’s 1928 collection The Tower, "A Thought From Propertius" is a compact classical meditation. The poem imagines a noble young woman who could move between two mythic possibilities—solemn, ritual purity beside Pallas Athene or violent, sensual ruin as a centaur’s prey—invoking Roman elegiac poet Propertius. Placed late in Yeats’s career, the poem reflects his sustained interest in myth, choice, and the interplay of restraint and passion.