"Song of the Old Mother" by William Butler Yeats

 

Song of the Old Mother

I rise in the dawn, and I kneel and blow

Till the seed of the fire flicker and glow;

And then I must scrub and bake and sweep

Till stars are beginning to blink and peep;

And the young lie long and dream in their bed

Of the matching of ribbons for bosom and head,

And their days go over in idleness,

And they sigh if the wind but lift a tress:

While I must work because I am old,

And the seed of the fire gets feeble and cold.

Enjoy the poem with beautiful music.

poem video👇

https://youtu.be/H_lqTDNybDg

Who wrote the poem "Song of the Old Mother"?

William Butler Yeats (June 13, 1865 – January 28, 1939)

William Butler Yeats was an Irish poet, playwright, prose writer, and is widely considered as one of the greatest poets of the 20^th century. He was born to the Protestant, Anglo-Irish community that considered themselves English people born in Ireland and had largely controlled the economic, political, and social life of Ireland. However, Yeats strongly affirmed his Irish nationality and found inspiration in Irish legends and the occult in his early career. Later his poetry became more physical and realistic. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1923. 

"Song of the Old Mother" explanation

In the poem, the speaker is an aged woman who has many difficult household duties. The overall atmosphere implies her displeasure with the young children idly lying in bed dreaming about trifles. This poem was published in The Wind Among The Reeds in 1899 when 34-year-old Yeats was deep in love with Irish tradition and culture. Some critics interpret the poem that the old woman symbolizes the country of Ireland, serving her master England, while the English, symbolized by the idle children, are absorbed in petty matters.