If a poet interprets a poem of his own he limits its suggestibility.
William Butler YeatsRead
The years like great black oxen tread the world, and God, the herdsman goads them on behind, and I am broken by their passing feet.
Interpretation
This quote reflects on the relentless passage of time and the inevitable impact it has on our lives.
William Butler Yeats uses vivid imagery to convey the oppressive nature of time as it moves forward, likening the years to powerful oxen that tread on the world, symbolizing the weight of life's experiences. The mention of God as the herdsman suggests a divine force guiding this passage, while the speaker's feeling of being 'broken' highlights the emotional and physical toll that time takes on individuals, illustrating the fragility of human existence in the face of inevitable change.
In practice
In a reflective speech about aging and life experiences.
If a poet interprets a poem of his own he limits its suggestibility.
It was my first meeting with a philosophy that confirmed my vague speculations and seemed at once logical and boundless.
But I, being poor, have only my dreams; I have spread my dreams under your feet; Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.
How far away the stars seem, and how far is our first kiss, and ah, how old my heart.
For he would be thinking of love Till the stars had run away And the shadows eaten the moon.
Love is created and preserved by intellectual analysis, for we love only that which is unique, and it belongs to contemplation, not to action, for we would not change that which we love.
I think that there are real concerns that we have around whose life is important and why. So if the official story is, for example, somebody was running from the police, does their life matter?
Blessed be He, Who came into the world for no other purpose than to suffer.
But would we know, whether the pretended prophet had really attained a just sentiment of morals? Let us attend to his narration; and we shall soon find, that he bestows praise on such instances of treachery, inhumanity, cruelty, revenge, bigotry, as are utterly incompatible with civilized society. No steady rule of right seems there to be attended to; and every action is blamed or praised, so far only as it is beneficial or hurtful to the true believers.
The key fallacy of so called gun control laws is that such laws do not in fact control guns. They simply disarm law abiding citizens, while people bent on violence find firearms readily available.
There are roughly three New Yorks. There is, first, the New York of the man or woman who was born here, who takes the city for granted and accepts its size and its turbulence as natural and inevitable. Second, there is the New York of the commuter β the city that is devoured by locusts each day and spat out each night. Third, there is the New York of the person who was born somewhere else and came to New York in quest of something.
When we consider reality itself we quickly become aware of its infinite complexity, and we realize that our habitual perception of it is often inadequate. If this were not so, the concept of deception would be meaningless.
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