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1865–1939

MEN IMPROVE WITH THE YEARS

William Butler Yeats

I am worn out with dreams; A weather-worn, marble triton Among the streams; And all day long I look

Upon this lady's beauty As though I had found in book A pictured beauty, Pleased to have filled the eyes

Or the discerning ears, Delighted to be but wise, For men improve with the years; And yet and yet

Is this my dream, or the truth? O would that we had met When I had my burning youth; But I grow old among dreams,

A weather-worn, marble triton Among the streams.

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MEN IMPROVE WITH THE YEARS · William Butler Yeats · Poetry Cove