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William Butler Yeats - His Phoenix
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THERE is a queen in China, or maybe it`s in Spain,
And birthdays and holidays such praises can be heard
Of her unblemished lineaments, a whiteness with no
stain,
That she might be that sprightly girl trodden by a
bird;
And there`s a score of duchesses, surpassing woman-
kind,
Or who have found a painter to make them so for pay
And smooth out stain and blemish with the elegance
of his mind:
I knew a phoenix in my youth, so let them have their
day.
The young men every night applaud their Gaby`s
laughing eye,
And Ruth St.  Denis had more charm although she had
poor luck;
From nineteen hundred nine or ten, Pavlova`s had the
cry
And there`s a player in the States who gathers up her
cloak
And flings herself out of the room when Juliet would
be bride
With all a woman`s passion, a child`s imperious way,
And there are — but no matter if there are scores beside:
I knew a phoenix in my youth, so let them have their
day.
There`s Margaret and Marjorie and Dorothy and Nan,
A Daphne and a Mary who live in privacy;
One`s had her fill of lovers, another`s had but one,
Another boasts, "I pick and choose and have but two
or three.`
If head and limb have beauty and the instep`s high and
light
They can spread out what sail they please for all I have
to say,
Be but the breakers of men`s hearts or engines of
delight:
I knew a phoenix in my youth, so let them have their
day.
There`ll be that crowd, that barbarous crowd, through
all the centuries,
And who can say but some young belle may walk and
talk men wild
Who is my beauty`s equal, though that my heart denies,
But not the exact likeness, the simplicity of a child,
And that proud look as though she had gazed into the
burning sun,
And all the shapely body no tittle gone astray.
I mourn for that most lonely thing; and yet God`s will
be done:
I knew a phoenix in my youth, so let them have their
day.
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