"In Memory of W. B. Yeats" is W. H. Auden's complicated tribute to William Butler Yeats (1865-1939), considered the foremost Irish poet of his age and one of the finest writers in the English language. Throughout the poem, Auden weighs the complexities of Yeats's legacy, including his tremendous literary "gift" and his sometimes "silly" or foolish ideas. More broadly, he contemplates the poet's role in society, particularly during "nightmar[ish]" periods of history—like the eve of World War II, when Auden wrote the poem. Though Auden insists that "poetry makes nothing happen" from a historical standpoint, he suggests that poets can turn unrelieved human suffering into wise and even joyful art. The poem dates to February 1939, the month after Yeats's death, and appears in Auden's collection Another Time (1940). It remains one of the most famous poetic elegies of the 20th century.

• Read the full text of “In Memory of W. B. Yeats”

• “In Memory of W. B. Yeats” Summary

• “In Memory of W. B. Yeats” Themes

  • 

    Art, Fame, and Posterity

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-31
    • Lines 32-41
    • Lines 42-65
  • 

    The Power and Limits of Poetry

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 24-29
    • Lines 34-41
    • Lines 46-65
  • 

    Human Tragedy and Suffering

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 5-8
    • Lines 24-31
    • Line 32
    • Lines 34-36
    • Lines 46-65

• Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “In Memory of W. B. Yeats”

  • Lines 1-6

    He disappeared in ...
    ... dark cold day.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 7-11

    Far from his ...
    ... from his poems.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 12-17

    But for him ...
    ... became his admirers.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 18-23

    Now he is ...
    ... of the living.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 24-29

    But in the ...
    ... something slightly unusual.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 30-31

    What instruments we ...
    ... dark cold day.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 32-34

    You were silly ...
    ... Yourself.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 34-36

    Mad Ireland hurt ...
    ... makes nothing happen:

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 36-41

    it survives ...
    ... happening, a mouth.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 42-45

    Earth, receive an ...
    ... of its poetry.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 46-49

    In the nightmare ...
    ... in its hate;

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 50-53

    Intellectual disgrace ...
    ... in each eye.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 54-57

    Follow, poet, follow ...
    ... us to rejoice;

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 58-61

    With the farming ...
    ... rapture of distress;

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 62-65

    In the deserts ...
    ... how to praise.

    

    

    

    

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• “In Memory of W. B. Yeats” Symbols

  • 

    Winter/Cold

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-6: “He disappeared in the dead of winter: / The brooks were frozen, the airports almost deserted, / And snow disfigured the public statues; / The mercury sank in the mouth of the dying day. / What instruments we have agree / The day of his death was a dark cold day.”
    • Lines 30-31: “What instruments we have agree / The day of his death was a dark cold day.”
    • Line 46: “In the nightmare of the dark”
  • 

    Wolves/Forests

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Line 8: “The wolves ran on through the evergreen forests,”
  • 

    The Peasant River

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Line 9: “The peasant river was untempted by the fashionable quays;”
    • Lines 36-41: “it survives / In the valley of its making where executives / Would never want to tamper, flows on south / From ranches of isolation and the busy griefs, / Raw towns that we believe and die in; it survives, / A way of happening, a mouth.”
  • 

    Statues

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Line 3: “And snow disfigured the public statues;”

• “In Memory of W. B. Yeats” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

  • Allusion

    

    

    

    

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    Where allusion appears in the poem:

    • Line 9: “The peasant river was untempted by the fashionable quays;”
    • Line 20: “To find his happiness in another kind of wood”
    • Lines 34-35: “Mad Ireland hurt you into poetry. / Now Ireland has her madness and her weather still,”
    • Lines 42-45: “Earth, receive an honoured guest: / William Yeats is laid to rest. / Let the Irish vessel lie / Emptied of its poetry.”
    • Lines 52-53: “And the seas of pity lie / Locked and frozen in each eye.”
    • Lines 58-59: “With the farming of a verse / Make a vineyard of the curse,”

  • Repetition

    

    

    

    

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    Where repetition appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “dead”
    • Line 2: “The,” “frozen,” “the”
    • Line 4: “The,” “dying,” “day”
    • Lines 5-6: “What instruments we have agree / The day of his death was a dark cold day.”
    • Line 8: “The”
    • Line 9: “The”
    • Line 11: “death,” “poet”
    • Line 14: “The,” “of his”
    • Line 15: “The,” “of his”
    • Line 17: “The,” “of his”
    • Line 19: “And”
    • Line 21: “And”
    • Line 22: “dead”
    • Line 26: “And”
    • Line 27: “And”
    • Line 28: “think of,” “day”
    • Line 29: “thinks of,” “day”
    • Lines 30-31: “What instruments we have agree / The day of his death was a dark cold day.”
    • Line 34: “Mad,” “Ireland,” “poetry”
    • Line 35: “Ireland,” “madness”
    • Line 36: “poetry,” “makes,” “happen,” “it survives”
    • Line 37: “making”
    • Line 40: “it survives”
    • Line 41: “happening”
    • Line 44: “Let the”
    • Line 45: “poetry”
    • Line 46: “In the,” “dark”
    • Line 48: “And the”
    • Line 52: “And the”
    • Line 53: “frozen”
    • Line 54: “Follow,” “poet,” “follow”
    • Line 55: “the,” “of the”
    • Line 56: “With”
    • Line 58: “With,” “the,” “of”
    • Line 59: “of the”
    • Line 61: “In”
    • Line 62: “In the,” “of the”
    • Line 63: “Let the”
    • Line 64: “In the,” “of”

  • Metaphor

    

    

    

    

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    Where metaphor appears in the poem:

    • Line 4: “The mercury sank in the mouth of the dying day.”
    • Line 9: “The peasant river was untempted by the fashionable quays;”
    • Lines 14-17: “The provinces of his body revolted, / The squares of his mind were empty, / Silence invaded the suburbs, / The current of his feeling failed;”
    • Lines 20-21: “To find his happiness in another kind of wood / And be punished under a foreign code of conscience.”
    • Lines 22-23: “The words of a dead man / Are modified in the guts of the living.”
    • Line 25: “When the brokers are roaring like beasts on the floor of the bourse,”
    • Line 27: “And each in the cell of himself is almost convinced of his freedom”
    • Lines 36-41: “it survives / In the valley of its making where executives / Would never want to tamper, flows on south / From ranches of isolation and the busy griefs, / Raw towns that we believe and die in; it survives, / A way of happening, a mouth.”
    • Line 42: “Earth, receive an honoured guest:”
    • Lines 44-45: “Let the Irish vessel lie / Emptied of its poetry.”
    • Lines 46-47: “In the nightmare of the dark / All the dogs of Europe bark,”
    • Line 49: “Each sequestered in its hate;”
    • Lines 52-53: “And the seas of pity lie / Locked and frozen in each eye.”
    • Lines 54-55: “Follow, poet, follow right / To the bottom of the night,”
    • Lines 58-59: “With the farming of a verse / Make a vineyard of the curse,”
    • Lines 62-65: “In the deserts of the heart / Let the healing fountain start, / In the prison of his days / Teach the free man how to praise.”

  • Juxtaposition

    

    

    

    

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    Where juxtaposition appears in the poem:

    • Lines 7-29
    • Lines 34-35
    • Lines 42-53

  • Apostrophe

    

    

    

    

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    Where apostrophe appears in the poem:

    • Lines 32-34: “You were silly like us; your gift survived it all: / The parish of rich women, physical decay, / Yourself. Mad Ireland hurt you into poetry.”
    • Lines 42-45: “Earth, receive an honoured guest: / William Yeats is laid to rest. / Let the Irish vessel lie / Emptied of its poetry.”
    • Lines 54-65: “Follow, poet, follow right / To the bottom of the night, / With your unconstraining voice / Still persuade us to rejoice; / With the farming of a verse / Make a vineyard of the curse, / Sing of human unsuccess / In a rapture of distress; / In the deserts of the heart / Let the healing fountain start, / In the prison of his days / Teach the free man how to praise.”

• “In Memory of W. B. Yeats” Vocabulary

  Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

  • The dead of winter
  • Disfigured
  • Mercury
  • Mouth of the dying day
  • The peasant river
  • Quays
  • Provinces
  • Revolted
  • Current of his feeling
  • Affections
  • Code of conscience
  • Brokers
  • Bourse
  • Your gift
  • Parish
  • Mad Ireland
  • Executives
  • Tamper
  • Ranches
  • Mouth
  • Vessel
  • Dogs of Europe
  • Sequestered
  • Unconstraining
  • Vineyard
  • Unsuccess
  • (Location in poem: Line 1: “He disappeared in the dead of winter:”)

• Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “In Memory of W. B. Yeats”

  • Form

  • Meter

  • Rhyme Scheme

• “In Memory of W. B. Yeats” Speaker

• “In Memory of W. B. Yeats” Setting

• Literary and Historical Context of “In Memory of W. B. Yeats”

• More “In Memory of W. B. Yeats” Resources

  • External Resources

    • An Auden Documentary — Watch a short film about Auden's life, poetry, and historical period.

    • The Poet's Life — An introduction to Auden's life and work, courtesy of the Poetry Foundation.

    • Auden and Political Poetry — Read about Auden's complex relationship to his own political poems.

    • The Poem Aloud — Listen to W. H. Auden read "In Memory of W. B. Yeats."

    • Auden's "Trial" of Yeats — Read Auden's 1939 essay "The Public v. the Late Mr William Butler Yeats," in which he subjects Yeats's legacy to a mock trial.

    • Who Was W. B. Yeats? — An introduction to the subject of Auden's elegy.

  • LitCharts on Other Poems by W. H. Auden

    • As I Walked Out One Evening

    • Epitaph on a Tyrant

    • Funeral Blues (Stop all the clocks)

    • Lullaby

    • Musée des Beaux Arts

    • Partition

    • Refugee Blues

    • September 1, 1939

    • The More Loving One

    • The Shield of Achilles

    • The Unknown Citizen

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