Broken Dreams
There is grey in your hair.Young men no longer suddenly catch their breathWhen you are passing;But maybe some old gaffer mutters a blessingBecause it was your prayerRecovered him upon the bed of death.For your sole sake--that all heart's ache have known,And given to others all heart's ache,From meagre girlhood's putting onBurdensome beauty--for your sole sakeHeaven has put away the stroke of her doom,So great her portion in that peace you makeBy merely walking in a room.
Your beauty can but leave among usVague memories, nothing but memories.A young man when the old men are done talkingWill say to an old man, 'Tell me of that ladyThe poet stubborn with his passion sang usWhen age might well have chilled his blood.'
Vague memories, nothing but memories,But in the grave all, all, shall be renewed.The certainty that I shall see that ladyLeaning or standing or walkingIn the first loveliness of womanhood,And with the fervour of my youthful eyes,Has set me muttering like a fool.
You are more beautiful than any oneAnd yet your body had a flaw:Your small hands were not beautiful,And I am afraid that you will runAnd paddle to the wristIn that mysterious, always brimming lakeWhere those that have obeyed the holy lawPaddle and are perfect; leave unchangedThe hands that I have kissedFor old sakes' sake.
The last stroke of midnight dies.All day in the one chairFrom dream to dream and rhyme to rhyme I have rangedIn rambling talk with an image of air:Vague memories, nothing but memories.
Words in this poem
- maybe adv.
- Perhaps; possibly; peradventure. [For it may be.]
- gaffer n.
- An old fellow; an aged rustic. [Possibly contr. fr. godfather; but prob. fr. gramfer for grandfather. Cf. Gammer.]
- ache n.
- A name given to several species of plants; as, smallage, wild celery, parsley. Holland. [F. ache, L. apium parsley.]
- meagre a.
- Destitue of, or having little, flesh; lean. [OE. merge, F. maigre, L. macer; akin to D. & G. mager, Icel. magr, and prob. to Gr. Emaciate, Maigre.]
- chilled a.
- Hardened on the surface or edge by chilling; as, chilled iron; a chilled wheel.
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- loveliness n.
- The state or quality of being lovely. [From Lovely.]
- fervour n.
- Heat; excessive warmth. [OF. fervor, fervour, F. ferveur, L. fervor, fr. fervere. See Fervent.]
- brimming a.
- Full to the brim; overflowing.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Broken Dreams is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Wild Swans at Coole, Project Gutenberg ebook #32491; 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, Broken Dreams, in The Wild Swans at Coole (1919), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #32491, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/yeats-wild-swans/broken-dreams.html, id L20020.
Form and metre
Broken Dreams is 41 lines in 5 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 80%).
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 AB--AB-C-CDCD hairA · breathB · passing · blessing · prayerA · deathB · known · acheC · on · sakeC · doomD · makeC · roomD
- 2 A---A- usA · memories · talking · lady · usA · blood
- 4 AB-ACDB-CD oneA · flawB · beautiful · runA · wristC · lakeD · lawB · unchanged · kissedC · sakeD
- 5 AB-BA diesA · chairB · ranged · airB · memoriesA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| There is grey in your hair. | 6 | ······ |
| Young men no longer suddenly catch their breath | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| When you are passing; | 5 | ···/˘ |
| But maybe some old gaffer mutters a blessing | 12 | ·/˘··/˘/˘·/˘ |
| Because it was your prayer | 6 | ······ |
| Recovered him upon the bed of death. | 10 | ˘/˘······· |
| For your sole sake--that all heart's ache have known, | 10 | ·········· |
| And given to others all heart's ache, | 9 | ·/˘·/˘··· |
| From meagre girlhood's putting on | 8 | ·/˘/·/˘· |
| Burdensome beauty--for your sole sake | 9 | /˘˘/˘···· |
| Heaven has put away the stroke of her doom, | 10 | /··˘/····· |
| So great her portion in that peace you make | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| By merely walking in a room. | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Your beauty can but leave among us | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| Vague memories, nothing but memories. | 10 | ·/˘˘/˘·/˘˘ |
| A young man when the old men are done talking | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| Will say to an old man, 'Tell me of that lady | 12 | ··········/˘ |
| The poet stubborn with his passion sang us | 11 | ·/˘/˘··/˘·· |
| When age might well have chilled his blood.' | 9 | ······˘·· |
| Vague memories, nothing but memories, | 10 | ·/˘˘/˘·/˘˘ |
| But in the grave all, all, shall be renewed. | 10 | ········˘/ |
| The certainty that I shall see that lady | 11 | ·/˘˘·····/˘ |
| Leaning or standing or walking | 8 | /˘·/˘·/˘ |
| In the first loveliness of womanhood, | 10 | ···/˘˘·/˘· |
| And with the fervour of my youthful eyes, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Has set me muttering like a fool. | 9 | ···/˘˘··· |
| You are more beautiful than any one | 10 | ···/˘˘·/˘· |
| And yet your body had a flaw: | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Your small hands were not beautiful, | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| And I am afraid that you will run | 9 | ···˘/···· |
| And paddle to the wrist | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| In that mysterious, always brimming lake | 10 | ··˘/˘/·/˘· |
| Where those that have obeyed the holy law | 10 | ····˘/·/˘· |
| Paddle and are perfect; leave unchanged | 10 | /˘··/··˘/˘ |
| The hands that I have kissed | 6 | ······ |
| For old sakes' sake. | 4 | ···· |
| The last stroke of midnight dies. | 7 | ····/·· |
| All day in the one chair | 6 | ······ |
| From dream to dream and rhyme to rhyme I have ranged | 11 | ··········· |
| In rambling talk with an image of air: | 10 | ·/˘···/˘·· |
| Vague memories, nothing but memories. | 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.