by William Butler Yeats (1865 - 1939)
Politics
Language: English
How can I, that girl standing there, My attention fix On Roman or on Russian Or on Spanish politics? Yet here's a travelled man that knows What he talks about, And there's a politician That has read and thought, And maybe what they say is true Of war and [war's]1 alarms, But O that I were young again And held her in my arms!
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Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
Note: the poem has the following epigraph: "In our time the destiny of man presents its meanings in political terms" - Thomas Mann.
1 Wilkinson: "man's"Text Authorship:
- by William Butler Yeats (1865 - 1939), "Politics" [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by John Woods Duke (1899 - 1984), "Politics", 1974 [ baritone and piano ], Southern/Texas [sung text not yet checked]
- by Stephen Wilkinson (b. 1919), "Politics" [ voice and piano ], from Eternal Summer, no. 11 [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Politique", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "Politica", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2011-02-17
Line count: 12
Word count: 65