What Was Lost

Portrait of William Butler Yeats
William Butler Yeats 1865–1939

I sing what was lost and dread what was won, I walk in a battle fought over again, My king a lost king, and lost soldiers my men; Feet to the Rising and Setting may run, They always beat on the same small stone.

Keep reading

Discover more of William Butler Yeats’s poetry.

Explore all poems

Readers

Reader discussion

Your turn

Shown with your comment.

Never published. Only so we can reach you.

Comments are read before they appear. See our terms.