I did the dragon's will until you came
Because I had fancied love a casual
Improvisation, or a settled game
That followed if I let the kerchief fall:
Those deeds were best that gave the minute wings
And heavenly music if they gave it wit;
And then you stood among the dragon-rings.
I mocked, being crazy, but you mastered it
And broke the chain and set my ankles free,
Saint George or else a pagan Perseus;
And now we stare astonished at the sea,
And a miraculous strange bird shrieks at us.
More verses by William Butler Yeats
- The Cloak, The Boat And The Shoes
- Maid Quiet
- On A Political Prisoner
- He Mourns For The Change That Has Come Upon Him And His Beloved, And Longs For The End Of The World
- Chosen