Life moves out of a red flare of dreams Into a common light of common hours, Until old age bring the red flare again.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Life starts with vivid dreams, settles into ordinary routine, and returns to intense feeling only in old age.
- In plain terms
- Life goes from exciting dreams to boring days and back to excitement when you are old.
- What can you take from it?
- Expect emotional intensity to return in later life.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- How have your dreams changed over time?
- What brings passion back in later years?
Another view
It assumes old age brings clarity which is not always true.
More from William Butler Yeats
The Land of Faery, Where nobody gets old and godly and grave, Where nobody gets old and crafty and wise, Where nobody gets old and bitter of tongue.
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Permalink to quote #33 Bow down, archangels, in your dim abode: Before you were, or any hearts to beat, Weary and kind one lingered by His seat; He made the world to be a grassy road…
Permalink to quote #30
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