On a Political Prisoner
She that but little patience knew,From childhood on, had now so muchA grey gull lost its fear and flewDown to her cell and there alit,And there endured her fingers touchAnd from her fingers ate its bit.
Did she in touching that lone wingRecall the years before her mindBecame a bitter, an abstract thing,Her thought some popular enmity:Blind and leader of the blindDrinking the foul ditch where they lie?
When long ago I saw her rideUnder Ben Bulban to the meet,The beauty of her country-sideWith all youth’s lonely wildness stirred,She seemed to have grown clean and sweetLike any rock-bred, sea-borne bird:
Sea-borne, or balanced on the airWhen first it sprang out of the nestUpon some lofty rock to stareUpon the cloudy canopy,While under its storm-beaten breastCried out the hollows of the sea.
Words in this poem
- childhood n.
- The state of being a child; the time in which persons are children; the condition or time from infancy to puberty. [AS. cildhad; cild child + -had. See Child, and hood.]
- lone n.
- A lane. See Loanin.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
On a Political Prisoner is in the public domain. This text is taken from Michael Robartes and the dancer, Project Gutenberg ebook #72987; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: W. B. Yeats, On a Political Prisoner, in Michael Robartes and the Dancer (1921), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #72987, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/yeats-michael-robartes/on-a-political-prisoner.html, id L19948.
Form and metre
On a Political Prisoner is 24 lines in 4 stanzas of 6 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 ABA-B- knewA · muchB · flewA · alit · touchB · bit
- 2 ABA-B- wingA · mindB · thingA · enmity · blindB · lie
- 3 ABACBC rideA · meetB · sideA · stirredC · sweetB · birdC
- 4 ABA-B- airA · nestB · stareA · canopy · breastB · sea
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| She that but little patience knew, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| From childhood on, had now so much | 8 | ·/······ |
| A grey gull lost its fear and flew | 8 | ········ |
| Down to her cell and there alit, | 8 | ········ |
| And there endured her fingers touch | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| And from her fingers ate its bit. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Did she in touching that lone wing | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Recall the years before her mind | 8 | /······· |
| Became a bitter, an abstract thing, | 9 | ˘/·/˘·˘/· |
| Her thought some popular enmity: | 9 | ···/˘˘/˘˘ |
| Blind and leader of the blind | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Drinking the foul ditch where they lie? | 8 | /˘······ |
| When long ago I saw her ride | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| Under Ben Bulban to the meet, | 8 | ········ |
| The beauty of her country-side | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| With all youth’s lonely wildness stirred, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| She seemed to have grown clean and sweet | 8 | ········ |
| Like any rock-bred, sea-borne bird: | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Sea-borne, or balanced on the air | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| When first it sprang out of the nest | 8 | ········ |
| Upon some lofty rock to stare | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Upon the cloudy canopy, | 8 | ···/˘/˘˘ |
| While under its storm-beaten breast | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Cried out the hollows of the sea. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.