To a Wealthy Man who promised a Second Subscription to the Dublin Municipal Gallery if it were proved the People wanted Pictures
You gave but will not give againUntil enough of Paudeen's penceBy Biddy's halfpennies have lainTo be 'some sort of evidence,'Before you'll put your guineas down,That things it were a pride to giveAre what the blind and ignorant townImagines best to make it thrive.What cared Duke Ercole, that bidHis mummers to the market place,What th' onion-sellers thought or didSo that his Plautus set the paceFor the Italian comedies?And Guidobaldo, when he madeThat grammar school of courtesiesWhere wit and beauty learned their tradeUpon Urbino's windy hill,Had sent no runners to and froThat he might learn the shepherds' will.And when they drove out Cosimo,Indifferent how the rancour ran,He gave the hours they had set freeTo Michelozzo's latest planFor the San Marco Library,Whence turbulent Italy should drawDelight in Art whose end is peace,In logic and in natural lawBy sucking at the dugs of Greece.
Your open hand but shows our loss,For he knew better how to live.Let Paudeens play at pitch and toss,Look up in the sun's eye and giveWhat the exultant heart calls goodThat some new day may breed the bestBecause you gave, not what they wouldBut the right twigs for an eagle's nest!
Words in this poem
- duke n.
- A leader; a chief; a prince. [F. duc, fr. L. dux, ducis, leader, commander, fr. ducere to lead; akin to AS. teón to draw; cf. AS. heretoga (here army) an army leader, general, G. herzog duke]
- drove n.
- A collection of cattle driven, or cattle collected for driving; a number of animals, as oxen, sheep, or swine, driven in a body. [AS. draf, fr. drifan to drive. See Drive.]
- rancour n.
- The deepest malignity or spite; deep-seated enmity or malice; inveterate hatred. [OE. rancour, OF. rancor, rancur, F. rancune, fr. L. rancor rancidity, rankness; tropically, an old grudge, rancor, fr. rancere to be rank or rancid.]
- exultant a.
- Inclined to exult; characterized by, or expressing, exultation; rejoicing triumphantly. [L. exsultans, exsultantis, p. pr. of exsultare. See Exult.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To a Wealthy Man who promised a Second Subscription to the Dublin Municipal Gallery if it were proved the People wanted Pictures 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, To a Wealthy Man who promised a Second Subscription to the Dublin Municipal Gallery if it were proved the People wanted Pictures, in Responsibilities (1914), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #36865, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/yeats-responsibilities/to-a-wealthy-man-who-promised-a-second-subscription-to-the-dublin-municipal-gallery-if-it-were-proved-the-people-wanted-pictures.html, id L26108.
Form and metre
To a Wealthy Man who promised a Second Subscription to the Dublin Municipal Gallery if it were proved the People wanted Pictures is 36 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 85%).
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 ABABC-C-DEDE-F-FG-G-H-H-IJIJ againA · penceB · lainA · evidenceB · downC · give · townC · thrive · bidD · placeE · didD · paceE · comedies · madeF · courtesies · tradeF · hillG · fro · willG · cosimo · ranH · free · planH · library · drawI · peaceJ · lawI · greeceJ
- 2 ABABCDCD lossA · liveB · tossA · giveB · goodC · bestD · wouldC · nestD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| You gave but will not give again | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Until enough of Paudeen's pence | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| By Biddy's halfpennies have lain | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| To be 'some sort of evidence,' | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| Before you'll put your guineas down, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| That things it were a pride to give | 8 | ········ |
| Are what the blind and ignorant town | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Imagines best to make it thrive. | 8 | ˘/˘····· |
| What cared Duke Ercole, that bid | 8 | ···˘/˘·· |
| His mummers to the market place, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| What th' onion-sellers thought or did | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| So that his Plautus set the pace | 8 | ········ |
| For the Italian comedies? | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘˘ |
| And Guidobaldo, when he made | 8 | ········ |
| That grammar school of courtesies | 8 | ·/˘··/˘˘ |
| Where wit and beauty learned their trade | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Upon Urbino's windy hill, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Had sent no runners to and fro | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| That he might learn the shepherds' will. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And when they drove out Cosimo, | 8 | ········ |
| Indifferent how the rancour ran, | 8 | ˘/˘··/˘· |
| He gave the hours they had set free | 8 | ···/···· |
| To Michelozzo's latest plan | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| For the San Marco Library, | 8 | ···/˘/·˘ |
| Whence turbulent Italy should draw | 8 | ·/˘/˘˘·· |
| Delight in Art whose end is peace, | 8 | ˘/······ |
| In logic and in natural law | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| By sucking at the dugs of Greece. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Your open hand but shows our loss, | 8 | ·/˘···/· |
| For he knew better how to live. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Let Paudeens play at pitch and toss, | 8 | ········ |
| Look up in the sun's eye and give | 8 | ········ |
| What the exultant heart calls good | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| That some new day may breed the best | 8 | ········ |
| Because you gave, not what they would | 8 | ········ |
| But the right twigs for an eagle's nest! | 9 | ······/˘· |
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.