God grant a
blessing on this
tower and
cottage
And on my heirs, if all remain
unspoiled,
No table, or chair or stool not simple enough
For
shepherd lads in Galilee; and grant
That I myself for portions of the year
May handle nothing and set eyes on nothing
But what the great and passionate have used
Throughout so many varying centuries.
We take it for the
norm; yet should I dream
Sinbad the sailor's brought a painted chest,
Or image, from beyond the
Loadstone Mountain
That dream is a norm; and should some limb of the devil
Destroy the view by cutting down an
ash
That shades the road, or setting up a cottage
Planned in a government office, shorten his life,
Manacle his soul upon the Red Sea bottom.
- W.B. Yeats, 1919.
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