The Three Hermits
Three old hermits took the airBy a cold and desolate sea,First was muttering a prayer,Second rummaged for a flea;On a windy stone, the third,Giddy with his hundredth year,Sang unnoticed like a bird.'Though the Door of Death is nearAnd what waits behind the door,Three times in a single dayI, though upright on the shore,Fall asleep when I should pray.'So the first but now the second,'We're but given what we have earnedWhen all thoughts and deeds are reckoned,So it's plain to be discernedThat the shades of holy men,Who have failed being weak of will,Pass the Door of Birth again,And are plagued by crowds, untilThey've the passion to escape.'Moaned the other, 'They are thrownInto some most fearful shape.'But the second mocked his moan:'They are not changed to anything,Having loved God once, but maybe,To a poet or a kingOr a witty lovely lady.'While he'd rummaged rags and hair,Caught and cracked his flea, the third,Giddy with his hundredth yearSang unnoticed like a bird.
Words in this poem
- maybe adv.
- Perhaps; possibly; peradventure. [For it may be.]
- witty a.
- Possessed of wit; knowing; wise; skillful; judicious; clever; cunning. [AS. witig, wittig. See Wit, n.]
- cracked a.
- Coarsely ground or broken; as, cracked wheat.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Three Hermits 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, The Three Hermits, in Responsibilities (1914), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #36865, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/yeats-responsibilities/the-three-hermits.html, id L04562.
Form and metre
The Three Hermits is 32 lines in a single stanza. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.4 syllables. 5 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 28% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in trochaic 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 ABABCACADEDEFFFFGHGHIJIJK-K-LMLM airA · seaB · prayerA · fleaB · thirdC · yearA · birdC · nearA · doorD · dayE · shoreD · prayE · secondF · earnedF · reckonedF · discernedF · menG · willH · againG · untilH · escapeI · thrownJ · shapeI · moanJ · anythingK · maybe · kingK · lady · hairL · thirdM · yearL · birdM
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 trochaic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Three old hermits took the air | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| By a cold and desolate sea, | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| First was muttering a prayer, | 7 | ··/˘˘·· |
| Second rummaged for a flea; | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| On a windy stone, the third, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Giddy with his hundredth year, | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Sang unnoticed like a bird. | 7 | ·˘/˘··· |
| 'Though the Door of Death is near | 7 | ······· |
| And what waits behind the door, | 7 | ······· |
| Three times in a single day | 7 | ····/˘· |
| I, though upright on the shore, | 7 | ··˘/··· |
| Fall asleep when I should pray.' | 7 | ·˘/···· |
| So the first but now the second, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| 'We're but given what we have earned | 9 | ··/˘····˘ |
| When all thoughts and deeds are reckoned, | 9 | ······/˘˘ |
| So it's plain to be discerned | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| That the shades of holy men, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Who have failed being weak of will, | 9 | ···˘/˘··· |
| Pass the Door of Birth again, | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| And are plagued by crowds, until | 7 | ······· |
| They've the passion to escape.' | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| Moaned the other, 'They are thrown | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Into some most fearful shape.' | 7 | ····/˘· |
| But the second mocked his moan: | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| 'They are not changed to anything, | 9 | ····˘·/˘· |
| Having loved God once, but maybe, | 9 | /˘·˘···/˘ |
| To a poet or a king | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Or a witty lovely lady.' | 8 | ··/˘/˘/˘ |
| While he'd rummaged rags and hair, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Caught and cracked his flea, the third, | 7 | ······· |
| Giddy with his hundredth year | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Sang unnoticed like a bird. | 7 | ·˘/˘··· |
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.