THEY hold their public meetings where
Our most renowned patriots stand,
One among the birds of the air,
A stumpier on either hand;
And all the popular statesmen say
That purity built up the State
And after kept it from decay;
And let all base ambition be,
For intellect would make us proud
And pride bring in impurity:
The three old rascals laugh aloud.
More verses by William Butler Yeats
- The Valley Of The Black Pig
- The Happy Townland
- The Statesman's Holiday
- Under The Round Tower
- To A Poet, Who Would Have Me Praise Certain Bad Poets, Imitators Of His And Mine