"The Wild Swans at Coole" and "Song of the Wandering Aengus" by W.B. Yeats (poetry reading)

"The Wild Swans at Coole" is okay, though not my favorite Yeats.  However, I think this reading of it is perfect, a comment you don't often hear from Banjo-grouch (see my extended complaints here last October 15 & 19, February 19-20) about the mosh pit of poetry readings and the Hollywoodizing groupie-grope poet-hugging that abounds therein (should there be a comma in there somewhere?).

Also, I just happen to have a swan shot or two.  

YouTube - "The Wild Swans at Coole" by W.B. Yeats (poetry reading)



 

Notice this elegant pair, who think they are somebody, swimming in mud, more or less, and pretending to be too symmetrical and lofty to care about food, while in the foreground three mallards manically bob for minnows, octopi, or corndog leavings.

Actually, I was misremembering. I was thinking of a Canada Goose in a setting I like. But you can have him too if you'll admit to liking "Song of Wandering Aengus" just a little. Last time this came up (November 28, 2010), only one of you rose to the occasion. (Do you know who you are?).

"Aengus" is an early (1899) Yeats poem that draws little enthusiasm from serious scholars or those readers of Banjo52 who are full of gravitas. I admit it's a bit sappy and perhaps too reliant on Gaelic mythology, but I like it anyway. Here is the same guy reading; maybe his presentation will sell the poem. That can happen.

YouTube - "The Song of the Wandering Aengus" by W.B. Yeats (poetry reading)

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Yeats, "The Song of Wandering Aengus"

The Song of Wandering Aengus, by W.B. Yeats


"The Song of Wandering Aengus" is early Yeats and at least a bit on the sentimental side. But I liked it as an undergraduate when I was first getting to know Yeats, and I still find it appealing--the music of the language, the unabashed romanticism of the story and imagery. Also, at Kensington Metropark today, where it was sunny and 40 degrees, I had some luck with chickadees, tufted timice, and nuthatches; looking at the photos reminded me of the poem. Aengus can have his fish if I can have the birds.

If you want to earn an A, you'll need to compare the Yeats poem to Keats' "La Belle Dame Sans Merci," posted here November 12.

The Song of Wandering Aengus, by W.B. Yeats