No Second Troy
Why should I blame her that she filled my daysWith misery, or that she would of lateHave taught to ignorant men most violent ways,Or hurled the little streets upon the great,Had they but courage equal to desire?What could have made her peaceful with a mindThat nobleness made simple as a fire,With beauty like a tightened bow, a kindThat is not natural in an age like this,Being high and solitary and most stern?Why, what could she have done being what she is?Was there another Troy for her to burn?
Words in this poem
- nobleness n.
- The quality or state of being noble; greatness; dignity; magnanimity; elevation of mind, character, or station; nobility; grandeur; stateliness.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
No Second Troy is in the public domain. This text is taken from Responsibilities, and other poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #36865; 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, No Second Troy, in Responsibilities (1914), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #36865, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/yeats-responsibilities/no-second-troy.html, id L04586.
Form and metre
No Second Troy is 12 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 82%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.2 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 33% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
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 ABABCDCD-E-E daysA · lateB · waysA · greatB · desireC · mindD · fireC · kindD · this · sternE · is · burnE
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Why should I blame her that she filled my days | 10 | ·········· |
| With misery, or that she would of late | 10 | ·/˘˘······ |
| Have taught to ignorant men most violent ways, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Or hurled the little streets upon the great, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Had they but courage equal to desire? | 11 | ···/˘/˘·˘/˘ |
| What could have made her peaceful with a mind | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| That nobleness made simple as a fire, | 11 | ·/˘˘·/˘··/˘ |
| With beauty like a tightened bow, a kind | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| That is not natural in an age like this, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Being high and solitary and most stern? | 10 | /··/˘·˘··· |
| Why, what could she have done being what she is? | 10 | ······/··· |
| Was there another Troy for her to burn? | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
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.