The poem
I turn round Like a dumb beast in a show. Neither know what I am Nor where I go, My language beaten Into one name; I am in love And that is my shame. What hurts the soul My soul adores, No better than a beast Upon all fours.
The Lady's First Song
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- Anonymous48 words
Short and sweet, captures the essence of the torture of being in non-mutual love. This is more than likely referring to Maud Gonne 40 years earlier in Yeats's life...
Yeats' best poem. My absolute favorite. Makes me think of how one can keep gong back to the same situations in love..."what hurts the soul, my soul adores..."...etc...(???)...I think of this one often and Ive come to too many conclusions to post here. Just my absoulute favorite poem.