Into the Twilight by W.B. Yeats
The work is a lyrical meditation on the weariness of a heart burdened by time and convention. It exhorts the soul to break free from rigid moral confines and to rediscover its innate capacity for joy and lamentation amid the transient beauty of nature. The poem contrasts the stale certainties of “wrong and right” with the ever-changing, elusive qualities of the natural world—the gray twilight and the dewy morn—both symbolizing a realm of emotional and spiritual nuance absent in absolute judgments. The text envisions a return to a mythic landscape where language and logic are supplanted by a deeper communion with nature and the cosmos. Mountainous landscapes become sites of mystical assembly, where elemental forces—sun, moon, river, wood—unite to enact a primal, autonomous will. In this vision, the divine is portrayed as distant and enigmatic, suggesting that ultimate truth and meaning reside not in doctrinal certainty but in the continuous interplay of natural and spiritual forces. Themes of renewal and decay interweave throughout the verse, highlighting a cyclic tension between beauty and disillusionment. The call to “laugh heart again” and to “sigh” reflects an invitation to experience life in its full complexity, embracing both its luminous moments and its inevitable decline. This renders a poignant commentary on cultural identity, alluding indirectly to a heritage that remains youthful and resplendent despite the erosion of hope and the corrosive effects of society’s harsh judgments. Ultimately, the poem is an appeal to reawaken a dormant, worldly wisdom—a return to a state where the heart, unencumbered by the burdens of moral and temporal decay, can truly reconnect with the elemental forces that shape existence. It is both a lament for what has been lost and a hopeful summons to reclaim a more instinctual, profound engagement with life.
By W.B. Yeats · First published 1899 · Genre: Symbolist Poetry, Romantic Poetry, Mystical Poetry · 181 words
First lines
Out-worn heart, in a time out-worn, / Come clear of the nets of wrong and right; / Laugh heart again in the gray twilight, / Sigh, heart, again in the dew of the morn.
Your mother Eire is always young, / Dew ever shining and twilight gray; / Though hope fall from you and love decay, / Burning in fires of a slanderous tongue.
Come, heart, where hill is heaped upon hill: / For there the mystical brotherhood / Of sun and moon and hollow and wood / And river and stream work out their will; / And God stands winding His lonely horn, / And time and the world are ever in flight; / And love is less kind than the gray twilight, / And hope is less dear than the dew of the morn.
What this Textopian page supports
Into the Twilight is listed on Textopian as a poem by W.B. Yeats, dated 1899 CE.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Poem
- Author: W.B. Yeats
- Date: 1899 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Symbolist Poetry, Romantic Poetry, Mystical Poetry, Irish Literature, Lyric Poetry
- Length: 181 words
- Structure: 1 section, 3 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Standard (8th-9th Grade)
Good citation fit
- Work identity for Into the Twilight by W.B. Yeats
- Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
- Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
- Readability and classroom-planning context
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Genres
- Symbolist Poetry — The poem employs symbolic imagery and metaphysical motifs to evoke deeper, transcendent themes characteristic of Symbolist literature.
- Romantic Poetry — Its focus on emotion, nature, and the interplay between light and dark aligns with the themes typical of Romantic poetry.
- Mystical Poetry — The invocation of otherworldly elements and the exploration of spiritual transformation support a mystical reading.
- Irish Literature — Allusions to Eire and cultural identity mark the work as reflective of Irish literary traditions.
Tags
mysticism · symbolism · otherworldly · spirituality · folklore · mythology · metaphysics · transcendence · duality · enchantment · ephemeral · romanticism