W. B. Yeats

"An intellectual hatred is the worst,
So let her think opinions are accursed."
(Yeats, pg 1124, from A Prayer for my Daughter)

Yeats makes a profound and true point with these lines. The attempt at using intelligence to assert status often fails. And when an opinion is unsoliticed it often comes across in a bad bad way. With that said, I was born independent and outspoken. As a child, my grandfather used to warn me about it. He would tell me to stop being stubborn and keep my opinions to myself. He said that every time someone tried to tell me something or answer a question I would say, "I know." He would ask me why I asked if I already knew, and I would tell him, "I didn't know, but now I do, so, I know." I frustrated the hell out of that poor man. Yeats advise to his daughter reminds me of those conversations. I don't know if it worked for her, but not for me. When my grandfather told me that the reason he wanted me to behave like this was to get a good husband, I did everything the opposite! Where Yeats and my grandfather agree, I see the other side of things.

"In courtesy I'd have her chiefly learned;
Hearts are not had as a gift but hearts are earned"
(pg 1123)

I think Yeats was saying that she would have to earn a man's heart and I think the earning goes both ways. With his experience with Maud Gonne, I think him the last person to give advice on earning a heart! I do think that his words to his daughter are sweet and sincere though. I like the line, "My child sleeps on." While he is awake and restless, contemplating her life, she is sleeping peacefully through the violent storm. The descriptive language he uses is vivid and clear. I can picture the baby half-covered in her crib, the wind raging outside, and him pacing about the room. And I truly appreciate his intent to not spoil his daughter. In the third stanza, he even writes that he doesn't want her to be too beautiful.

"May she be granted beauty and yet not
Beauty to make a stranger's eye distraught"

He would instead prefer for her hold a "natural kindness." I have a feeling that some of this is due to his unrequited love for the egotistical Maud. I was skeptical about Yeats, but I really enjoy his vivid imagery and excellent use of language. It is simple to picture plainly everything he writes. My favorite of his is The Lake Isle of Innisfree because I am once again reminded of my home in Florida, but I am again saddened by the memory.

"I will arise and go now, for always night and day
I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;
While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey,
I hear it in the deep heart's core."
(pg 1117)

Luckily, I am not stricken to standing on a roadway and remembering. I at least have Georgia stars and Pecan trees!