Michael Robartes Asks Forgiveness Because of His Many Moods
If this importunate heart trouble your peaceWith words lighter than air,Or hopes that in mere hoping flicker and cease;Crumple the rose in your hair;And cover your lips with odorous twilight and say,'O Hearts of wind-blown flame!'O Winds, elder than changing of night and day,'That murmuring and longing came,'From marble cities loud with tabors of old'In dove-gray faery lands;'From battle banners fold upon purple fold,'Queens wrought with glimmering hands;'That saw young Niamh hover with love-lorn face'Above the wandering tide;'And lingered in the hidden desolate place,'Where the last Phoenix died'And wrapped the flames above his holy head;'And still murmur and long:'O Piteous Hearts, changing till change be dead'In a tumultuous song:'And cover the pale blossoms of your breastWith your dim heavy hair,And trouble with a sigh for all things longing for restThe odorous twilight there.
Words in this poem
- flicker v. i.
- To flutter; to flap the wings without flying. [OE. flikeren, flekeren, to flutter, AS. flicerian, flicorian, cf. D. flikkeren to sparkle. Flacker.]
- crumple v. t.
- To draw or press into wrinkles or folds to crush together; to rumple; as, to crumple paper. [Dim. fr. crump, a.]
- hover n.
- A cover; a shelter; a protection. Carew. C. Kingsley. [Etymol. doubtful.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Michael Robartes Asks Forgiveness Because of His Many Moods is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Wind Among the Reeds, Project Gutenberg ebook #32233; 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, Michael Robartes Asks Forgiveness Because of His Many Moods, in The Wind Among the Reeds (1899), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #32233, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/yeats-wind-among-reeds/michael-robartes-asks-forgiveness-because-of-his-many-moods.html, id L04535.
Form and metre
Michael Robartes Asks Forgiveness Because of His Many Moods is 24 lines in a single stanza. It rhymes ABABCDCDEFEFGHGHIJIJKBKB. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic tetrameter. 86% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.8 syllables. 29% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 ABABCDCDEFEFGHGHIJIJKBKB peaceA · airB · ceaseA · hairB · sayC · flameD · dayC · cameD · oldE · landsF · foldE · handsF · faceG · tideH · placeG · diedH · headI · longJ · deadI · songJ · breastK · hairB · restK · thereB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| If this importunate heart trouble your peace | 11 | ··˘/˘˘·/˘·· |
| With words lighter than air, | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| Or hopes that in mere hoping flicker and cease; | 11 | ·····/˘/˘·· |
| Crumple the rose in your hair; | 7 | /˘····· |
| And cover your lips with odorous twilight and say, | 12 | ·/˘···/˘/··· |
| 'O Hearts of wind-blown flame! | 6 | ······ |
| 'O Winds, elder than changing of night and day, | 11 | ··/˘·/˘···· |
| 'That murmuring and longing came, | 8 | ·/˘˘·/˘· |
| 'From marble cities loud with tabors of old | 11 | ·/˘/˘··/˘·· |
| 'In dove-gray faery lands; | 6 | ······ |
| 'From battle banners fold upon purple fold, | 11 | ·/˘/˘···/˘· |
| 'Queens wrought with glimmering hands; | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| 'That saw young Niamh hover with love-lorn face | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| 'Above the wandering tide; | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| 'And lingered in the hidden desolate place, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| 'Where the last Phoenix died | 6 | ···/˘· |
| 'And wrapped the flames above his holy head; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| 'And still murmur and long: | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| 'O Piteous Hearts, changing till change be dead | 11 | ·/˘˘·/˘···· |
| 'In a tumultuous song:' | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| And cover the pale blossoms of your breast | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| With your dim heavy hair, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And trouble with a sigh for all things longing for rest | 13 | ·/˘······/˘·· |
| The odorous twilight there. | 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.