If a poet interprets a poem of his own he limits its suggestibility.
When I clamber to the heights of sleep, Or when I grow excited with wine, suddenly I meet your face.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The speaker finds solace and inspiration in the memory of a loved one during moments of rest or indulgence.
In this quote, William Butler Yeats expresses the profound impact that love has on his consciousness. He reveals that whether he is drifting into sleep or enjoying a drink, the thought of his beloved always resurfaces, indicating that their presence is deeply embedded in his mind and emotions. This highlights the intertwining of love with one's inherent experiences, suggesting that true love transcends circumstances and remains a constant source of joy and comfort.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a romantic speech at a wedding, one could share this quote to express the lasting impact of love.
More from William Butler Yeats
All quotes βIt was my first meeting with a philosophy that confirmed my vague speculations and seemed at once logical and boundless.
But I, being poor, have only my dreams; I have spread my dreams under your feet; Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.
How far away the stars seem, and how far is our first kiss, and ah, how old my heart.
For he would be thinking of love Till the stars had run away And the shadows eaten the moon.
Love is created and preserved by intellectual analysis, for we love only that which is unique, and it belongs to contemplation, not to action, for we would not change that which we love.
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Capacity for love in its higher forms seems to be peculiarly human although even in humans it is still peculiar.
People cry at weddings for the same reason they cry at happy endings: because they so desperately want to believe in something they know is not credible.
They say that gardens look better when they are created by loving gardeners rather than by landscapers, because the garden is more tended to and cared for. The same thing goes for cooking. I only cook for people I love.
I think every human being knows how to hate. Because if they didn't know how to hate how to hate they wouldn't know how to love.
They loved each other, not driven by necessity, by the "blaze of passion" often falsely ascribed to love. They loved each other because everything around them willed it, the trees and the clouds and the sky over their heads and the earth under their feet.