Never Give All the Heart (by William Butler Yeats)

Yeats [by George Charles Beresford, 1911]
Never Give All the Heart
by William Butler Yeats
from In the Seven Woods (1904)
Will hardly seem worth thinking of
To passionate women if it seem
Certain, and they never dream
That it fades out from kiss to kiss;
For everything that's lovely is
But a brief, dreamy, kind delight.
O never give the heart outright,
For they, for all smooth lips can say,
Have given their hearts up to the play.
And who could play it well enough
If deaf and dumb and blind with love?
He that made this knows all the cost,
For he gave all his heart and lost.
To read more Yeats in the Online Library, please click here.





Loreena McKennett does a great version of this poem. it's so true and so beautiful. Donnie
Reply to this
cool.. loreena 's work ... did not know she did yeats as well..... which album isit on/?
Reply to this
Interesting interpretation: http://www.thebeckoning.com/poetry/yeats/yeats6.html. I choose to give it all, as fully Living and Loving are nothing less.
Reply to this
Thank you!
Reply to this