Michael Robartes Bids his Beloved be at Peace
The work is a meditation on the interplay between personal love and cosmic inevitability. It presents a farewell to a beloved, urging a serene acceptance of life’s transience and the inexorable flow of time and fate. The speaker communicates that human passion, though deeply cherished, is governed by larger, uncontrollable forces—symbolized through vivid images such as horses whose tumultuous movement reflects the approach of disaster and the cyclic progression of time marked by the cardinal directions. These directions respectively evoke darkness, hidden joy, sorrow, and fervent passion, signifying the varied facets of human experience and nature’s inexorable rhythms. The text weaves personal longing with universal myth, portraying love as both an intimate exchange and a reflection of broader, elemental forces. The imagery transforms common elements—the trembling of horses, the unfolding of the night, and the shedding of dew—into symbols of the ultimate decay inherent in all human endeavors. Amidst these dramatic images, the beloved is invited to yield to a state of rest and quiet resignation, suggesting that true peace lies in embracing the inevitabilities rather than resisting them. Throughout the work, there is a tension between the desire to capture ephemeral beauty and the recognition of its inevitable dissolution into the forces of time and fate. The poem’s language, rich with mythic allusions and apocalyptic imagery, underscores a vision where personal emotion is continuously shaped and even overwhelmed by cosmic events. Love, instead of being an isolated sentiment, becomes an experience intertwined with the relentless advance of history and destiny. Ultimately, the work posits that the act of bidding farewell is not a concession to despair but a dignified acknowledgment of the natural order. It exposes the vulnerability inherent in human passion while simultaneously elevating it through its connection to universal themes of creation, decay, and renewal. This convergence of the personal with the cosmic challenges the reader to see beauty, love, and even disaster as parts of an ongoing, ever-evolving narrative of life where acceptance, rather than resistance, provides a form of transcendence.
By W.B. Yeats · First published 1936 · Genre: Lyric Poetry, Symbolist Poetry, Modernist Poetry · 163 words
First lines
I hear the Shadowy Horses, their long manes a-shake, / Their hoofs heavy with tumult, their eyes glimmering white; / The North unfolds above them clinging, creeping night, / The East her hidden joy before the morning break, / The West weeps in pale dew and sighs passing away, / The South is pouring down roses of crimson fire: / O vanity of Sleep, Hope, Dream, endless Desire, / The Horses of Disaster plunge in the heavy clay: / Beloved, let your eyes half close, and your heart beat / Over my heart, and your hair fall over my breast, / Drowning love's lonely hour in deep twilight of rest, / And hiding their tossing manes and their tumultuous feet.
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Michael Robartes Bids his Beloved be at Peace is listed on Textopian as a poem by W.B. Yeats, dated 1936 CE.
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- Work type: Poem
- Author: W.B. Yeats
- Date: 1936 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Lyric Poetry, Symbolist Poetry, Modernist Poetry, Mystical Poetry, Romantic Poetry
- Length: 163 words
- Structure: 1 section, 1 paragraphs
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Genres
- Lyric Poetry — The work is a concentrated expression of personal emotion and evocative imagery, hallmarks of lyric poetry.
- Symbolist Poetry — The poem employs dense symbolic imagery and layered allegory to convey its themes, a key trait of Symbolist poetry.
- Modernist Poetry — Its innovative form, ambiguous narrative, and departure from classical structures reflect Modernist sensibilities.
- Mystical Poetry — The pervasive sense of the supernatural and exploration of the spiritual realm align with mystical poetry.
Tags
symbolism · modernism · poetry · Irish · mysticism · mythology · allegory · fantasy · romantic · metaphor · elegiac · visionary