#MIDDLEBURY
The Cold Heaven
W.B. Yeats
Suddenly I saw the cold and rook-delighting heaven
That seemed as though ice burned and was but the more ice,
And thereupon imagination and heart were driven
So wild that every casual thought of that and this
Vanished, and left but memories, that should be out of season
With the hot blood of youth, of love crossed long ago;
And I took all the blame out of all sense and reason,
Until I cried and trembled and rocked to and fro,
Riddled with light. Ah! when the ghost begins to quicken,
Confusion of the death-bed over, is it sent
Out naked on the roads, as the books say, and stricken
By the injustice of the skies for punishment?
About this poem
“The Cold Heaven” was published in “Responsibilities and Other Poems” (The Macmillan Company, 1916).
About W.B. Yeats
William Butler Yeats was born in Dublin on June 13, 1865. His numerous collections of poetry include “In the Seven Woods” (Dun Emer Press, 1903) and “The Wild Swans at Coole” (The Macmillan Company, 1917). Yeats was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1923. He died on Jan. 28, 1939.
The Academy of American Poets is a nonprofit, mission-driven organization, whose aim is to make poetry available to a wider audience. Email The Academy at poem-a-day@poets.org.
This poem is in the public domain. Originally published in Poem-a-Day, www.poets.org. Distributed by King Features Syndicate.
