by William Butler Yeats (1865 - 1939)
No second Troy
Language: English
Our translations: FRE
Why should I blame her that she filled my days With misery, or that she would of late Have taught to ignorant men most violent ways, Or hurled the little streets upon the great, Had they but courage equal to desire? What could have made her peaceful with a mind That nobleness made simple as a fire, With beauty like a tightened bow, a kind That is not natural in an age like this, Being high and solitary and most stern? Why, what could she have done being what she is? Was there another Troy for her to burn?
Confirmed with W. B. Yeats, Later Poems, Macmillan and Co., London, 1926, page 152.
Text Authorship:
- by William Butler Yeats (1865 - 1939), "No second Troy", appears in The Green Helmet and Other Poems, first published 1910 [author's text checked 2 times 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 Ronald A. Beckett , "No second Troy", 2011 [ voice and piano ], from Four Songs from 'A Man Young and Old', no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Seymour J. Shifrin (b. 1926), "No second Troy" [ soprano and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Pas de seconde Troie", copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2009-01-20
Line count: 12
Word count: 99