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.
Similar quotes
There is something demoralizing about watching two people get more and more crazy about each other, especially when you are the only extra person in the room. It's like watching Paris from an express caboose heading in the opposite direction--every second the city gets smaller and smaller, only you feel it's really you getting smaller and smaller and lonelier and lonelier, rushing away from all those lights and excitement at about a million miles an hour.
I spend a lot of time wondering how to best support the people that I love, because I think sometimes that means getting out of the way. When should I leave them alone to have their own life?
Love is desire sustained by unfulfilment.
She could not admit but that he had remarkable qualities, sometimes she thought that there was even in him a strange and unattractive greatness; it was curious then that she could not love him, but loved still a man whose worthlessness was now so clear to her.
When you are very old, and sit in the candle - light at evening spinning by the fire, you will say, as you murmur my verses, a wonder in your eyes, 'Ronsard sang of me in the days when I was fair.
Thou art my single day, God lends to leaven What were all earth else, with a feel of heaven.