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A Poet To His Beloved
by William Butler Yeats
I BRING you with reverent hands
The books of my numberless dreams,
White woman that passion has worn
As the tide wears the dove-grey sands,
And with heart more old than the horn
That is brimmed from the pale fire of time:
White woman with numberless dreams,
I bring you my passionate rhyme.
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A Poet To His Beloved is a one stanza, eight line poem, with a rhyme scheme of ABC, ACD, BD, iambic tetrameter – except for line six which has an extra syllable.
Lines 1 and 2:
I BRING you with reverent hands
The books of my numberless dreams,
The Speaker – with an emphasis on his action – tells us right away that said action is serious and delicate. By utilizing the word “reverent” he imbues a spiritual import to the undertaking which gives great value to what he is sharing. The second line can be read metaphorically. He is a Speaker who apparently dreams a lot, and the act of this sharing is indicative of the value of the one with whom he is sharing.
Lines 3 and 4:
White woman that passion has worn
As the tide wears the dove-grey sands,
While “white woman” might be a literal reference to race, it is likely also a reference to purity in a spiritual sense. In that context, “white” intended to convey a lack of blemishes. We can infer a purity meaning through context because passion functions as an antonym to purity or chasteness. The Speaker’s love has been worn down by her passions in the way that sand is worn down. The aftermath of passion’s impact is a change in color – not longer is his love white, she is dove-grey. Grey is a color commonly associated with white that has lost purity.
Lines 5 through 8:
And with heart more old than the horn
That is brimmed from the pale fire of time:
White woman with numberless dreams,
I bring you my passionate rhyme.
Here the Speaker tells us that he is old and full of years and that he still feels great passion for her. You can read into the final two lines the implication that the dreams he mentions are of, about, and for her as well.
