W. B. Yeats wrote "In Memory of Eva Gore-Booth and Con Markievicz" in 1927, soon after the deaths of Gore-Booth and Markievicz, two prominent sisters from an aristocratic family. Years earlier, Yeats had admired both sisters' dedication to Irish Nationalism, a movement that fought for Ireland's political and cultural autonomy from Britain. In this poem, Yeats laments the way the sisters' politics later diverged from his own (they fought for democracy, suffragism, and labor rights, while he gravitated more towards elitism and even authoritarianism). More than their clashing opinions, however, Yeats grieves "time" itself—and the way it makes fools out of everyone, whether their political causes are "wrong or right." The poem appeared in Yeats' 1933 collection The Winding Stair and Other Poems.

• Read the full text of “In Memory of Eva Gore-Booth and Con Markievicz”

• “In Memory of Eva Gore-Booth and Con Markievicz” Summary

• “In Memory of Eva Gore-Booth and Con Markievicz” Themes

  • 

    Idealism and Disillusionment

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-20
    • Lines 21-32
  • 

    Time, Age, and Mortality

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 21-32

• Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “In Memory of Eva Gore-Booth and Con Markievicz”

  • Lines 1-4

    The light of ...
    ... one a gazelle.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 5-9

    But a raving ...
    ... among the ignorant.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 10-15

    I know not ...
    ... the other out

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 15-20

    and speak ...
    ... one a gazelle.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 21-25

    Dear shadows, now ...
    ... enemy but time;

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 26-29

    Arise and bid ...
    ... the sages know.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 30-32

    We the great ...
    ... match and blow.

    

    

    

    

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• “In Memory of Eva Gore-Booth and Con Markievicz” Symbols

  • 

    The Gazebo

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Line 30: “We the great gazebo built”

• “In Memory of Eva Gore-Booth and Con Markievicz” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

  • Allusion

    

    

    

    

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    Where allusion appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “Lissadell”
    • Lines 3-4: “Two girls in silk kimonos, both / Beautiful, one a gazelle.”
    • Lines 7-9: “The older is condemned to death, / Pardoned, drags out lonely years / Conspiring among the ignorant.”
    • Lines 10-13: “I know not what the younger dreams— / Some vague Utopia—and she seems, / When withered old and skeleton-gaunt, / An image of such politics.”
    • Line 16: “that old Georgian mansion”
    • Lines 19-20: “Two girls in silk kimonos, both / Beautiful, one a gazelle.”
    • Lines 22-23: “All the folly of a fight / With a common wrong or right.”
    • Lines 30-31: “We the great gazebo built, / They convicted us of guilt;”

  • Metaphor

    

    

    

    

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    Where metaphor appears in the poem:

    • Line 4: “one a gazelle”
    • Lines 5-6: “But a raving autumn shears / Blossom from the summer's wreath”
    • Line 20: “one a gazelle”
    • Line 21: “Dear shadows, now you know it all,”
    • Lines 26-32: “Arise and bid me strike a match / And strike another till time catch; / Should the conflagration climb, / Run till all the sages know. / We the great gazebo built, / They convicted us of guilt; / Bid me strike a match and blow”

  • Repetition

    

    

    

    

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    Where repetition appears in the poem:

    • Lines 3-4: “Two girls in silk kimonos, both / Beautiful, one a gazelle”
    • Lines 19-20: “Two girls in silk kimonos, both / Beautiful, one a gazelle”
    • Line 21: “all”
    • Line 22: “All”
    • Line 26: “bid me strike a match”
    • Line 27: “strike”
    • Line 32: “Bid me strike a match”

  • Alliteration

    

    

    

    

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    Where alliteration appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “light,” “Lissadell”
    • Line 3: “girls,” “both”
    • Line 4: “Beautiful,” “gazelle”
    • Line 7: “death”
    • Line 8: “drags”
    • Line 16: “mansion,” “mix”
    • Line 17: “mind”
    • Line 18: “table,” “talk”
    • Line 19: “Two,” “girls,” “both”
    • Line 20: “Beautiful,” “gazelle”
    • Line 22: “folly,” “fight”
    • Line 23: “wrong,” “right”
    • Line 27: “till,” “time,” “catch”
    • Line 28: “conflagration,” “climb”
    • Line 30: “great,” “gazebo”
    • Line 31: “guilt”

  • Apostrophe

    

    

    

    

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    Where apostrophe appears in the poem:

    • Line 21: “Dear shadows, now you know it all”
    • Lines 22-23: “All the folly of a fight / With a common wrong or right.”
    • Lines 26-32: “Arise and bid me strike a match / And strike another till time catch; / Should the conflagration climb, / Run till all the sages know. / We the great gazebo built, / They convicted us of guilt; / Bid me strike a match and blow.”

• “In Memory of Eva Gore-Booth and Con Markievicz” 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.

  • Con Markievicz
  • Eva Gore-Booth
  • Lissadell
  • Kimonos
  • Gazelle
  • Pardoned
  • Conspiring
  • Utopia
  • Vague
  • Skeleton-gaunt
  • That old Georgian mansion
  • Folly
  • Bid
  • Conflagration
  • Sages
  • Gazebo
  • (Location in poem: )

• Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “In Memory of Eva Gore-Booth and Con Markievicz”

  • Form

  • Meter

  • Rhyme Scheme

• “In Memory of Eva Gore-Booth and Con Markievicz” Speaker

• “In Memory of Eva Gore-Booth and Con Markievicz” Setting

• Literary and Historical Context of “In Memory of Eva Gore-Booth and Con Markievicz”

• More “In Memory of Eva Gore-Booth and Con Markievicz” Resources

  • External Resources

    • A Biography of the Poet — Read about Yeats's life and career in this Poetry Foundation article.  

    • The Political Beliefs of W. B. Yeats — A look at what ideals Yeats stood for in a shifting political landscape.  

    • A Biography of Eva-Gore Booth — Read this Poetry Foundation article on Gore-Booth, who was a poet as well as an activist.

    • A Biography of Constance Markievicz — Read the Encyclopedia Britannica entry for Markievicz, who dedicated her life to political activism.  

    • The Poem Aloud — Listen to "In Memory of Eva Gore-Booth and Con Markievicz" as read by broadcaster Marian Richardson.   

  • LitCharts on Other Poems by William Butler Yeats

    • Adam's Curse

    • Among School Children

    • An Irish Airman Foresees his Death

    • A Prayer for my Daughter

    • Byzantium

    • Easter, 1916

    • Lapis Lazuli

    • Leda and the Swan

    • Sailing to Byzantium

    • September 1913

    • The Lake Isle of Innisfree

    • The Second Coming

    • The Song of Wandering Aengus

    • The Wild Swans at Coole

    • To a Shade

    • When You Are Old

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