All the heavy days are over;
Leave the body's coloured pride
Underneath the grass and clover,
With the feet laid side by side.
One with her are mirth and duty;
Bear the gold-embroidered dress,
For she needs not her sad beauty,
To the scented oaken press.
Hers the kiss of Mother Mary,
The long hair is on her face;
Still she goes with footsteps wary
Full of earth's old timid grace.
With white feet of angels seven
Her white feet go glimmering;
And above the deep of heaven,
Flame on flame, and wing on wing.
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In 'The Collected Poems of W.B.Yeats', which claims to contain the final revised versions of all the poems, this one is different. It is called 'The Countess Cathleen in Paradise'. This refers to a story which Yeats made into a play: the Countess Cathleen had spent all her money relieving a terrible famine, but things were still so bad that her tenants were selling their souls to two mysterious strangers in return for food. The Countess agreed they could have her soul if they freed all the others, which is what the strangers wanted all along as she was so good that her soul was a great prize. She pined and died as soon as she made the bargain, but God welcomed her to Heaven anyway as she had done it for others. The revised poem has the same first verse, but the others are slightly different:
Bathed in flaming founts of duty
She'll not ask a haughty dress;
Carry all that mournful beauty
To the scented oaken press.
Did the kiss of Mother Mary
Put that music in her face?
Yet she goes with footstep wary,
Full of earth's old timid grace.
'Mong the feet of angels seven
What a dancer glimmering!
All the heavens bow down to Heaven,
Flame to flame and wing to wing.
Yeats's revisions do not always seem much of an improvement. In this case I think the third verse (of the four) is improved, but I'm not sure about the second, and what does 'All the heavens bow down to Heaven' mean? -
dream of a blessed spirit
Parting from the body has been described in a graceful artistic way.The last stanza,esp the last two lines-
'And above the deep of heaven,
Flame on flame,and wing on wing'
So Powerful! -
this is a very good poem
it could have two meaning
as i read it
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elegance captured in vivid words...
loved the descriptions... 'full of earth's old timid grace ... captivating words
and 'flame on flame, wing on wing' ... gives an ethereal touch...
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