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Once out of nature I shall never take
My bodily form from any natural thing,
But such a form as Grecian goldsmiths make
Of hammered gold and gold enamelling
To keep a drowsy Emperor awake;
Or set upon a golden bough to sing
To lords and ladies of Byzantium
Of what is past, or passing, or to come.

— William Butler Yeats The Tower (1928)

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More quotes by William Butler Yeats

But is there any comfort to be found?
Man is in love and loves what vanishes,
What more is there to say?

The Tower (1928)

O body swayed to music, O brightening glance,
How can we know the dancer from the dance?

The Tower (1928)

The only business of the head in the world is to bow a ceaseless obeisance to the heart.

Too long a sacrifice
Can make a stone of the heart.

Michael Robartes and the Dancer (1921)

Come away, O human child!
To the waters and the wild
With a faery, hand in hand,
For the world's more full of weeping than you can understand.

Crossways (1889)

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Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: William Butler Yeats (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.