HRCFF: W. B. Yeats
Harry Ransom Center Friday Finds (early edition)
From “The Winding Stair”
TMS with corrections
…
VIII
Her Vision In The Wood
Too old for a man’s love I stood and raged
At wine-dark midnight in the sacred wood,
Dry timber under that rich foliage,
Imagining men. Imagining that I could
A greater with a lesser pang assuage,
Or but to find if withered vein ran blood,
I tore my body that its wine might cover
Whatever could recall the lip of lover.
…
[Yeats’ edits: over three drafts, he changed nothing but the line that begins with “Imagining.” It used to be: “Imagining men; imagining that I could …” ]
(cont’d)
IX
A Last Confession
What lively lad most pleasured me
Of all that with me lay?
I answer that I gave my soul
And loved in misery,
But had great pleasure with a lad
That I loved bodily.
Flinging from his arms I laughed
To think his passion such
He fancied that I gave a soul
Did but our bodies touch,
And laughed upon his breast to think
Beast gave beast as much.
…
[Yeats’ edits: This one was flawless! His only mark was a great big check mark on the final line (of the page, not the poem): “Beast gave beast as much.” CHECK!]
