William Butler Yeats (13 June 1865 – 28 January 1939 / County Dublin / Ireland)
Poems by William Butler Yeats : 22 / 402
A Man Young And Old: V. The Empty Cup
A crazy man that found a cup,
When all but dead of thirst,
Hardly dared to wet his mouth
Imagining, moon-accursed,
That another mouthful
And his beating heart would burst.
October last I found it too
But found it dry as bone,
And for that reason am I crazed
And my sleep is gone.
William Butler Yeats
Submitted: Monday, January 13, 2003
Read poems about / on: october, crazy, moon, sleep, heart
Poems by William Butler Yeats : 22 / 402
Comments about this poem (A Man Young And Old: V. The Empty Cup by William Butler Yeats )
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What an extraordinary imagination Yeats had! The crazy man is superstitious so refuses to drink; the poet's persona finds the cup dry and is similarly disturbed.This reminds me of Rpbert Frost's poem called Fire and Ice, where dissimilars have a similar effect.