Every poem speaks specifically to each reader, but this is
how I see the meaning of the
poem.
Yeats (or the speaker) is writing about "writing." He
recalls a time when his "darling" could not understand why he has chosen to be a writer
in a world which he sees so often as "this blind bitter
land."
He remembers, too, growing "weary" of the world,
especially the sun, which all life depends on. Eventually, however, the speaker comes to
his senses and recalls the best work he has done in trying to clarify his view of the
world.
He has come to the point that every year he
reassures himself that his "darling" understands what his intent is in writing because
it makes him strong and he has a way with words: "...words obey my
call..."
Silently, on the side, he wonders if she
really has come to an understanding. If she has not, he wonders if
had he had that knowledge, would it have stopped him—what would have been lost?
("...shaken from the sieve...") Had he listened and changed his course, he realizes that
he might have given up ("...thrown poor words away..."), and learned to be satisfied
with a life without words. The sense here is that had he done so, it would have been no
life at all.
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