William Butler Yeats (1865-1939)

BEGGAR TO BEGGAR CRIED

'TIME to put off the world and go somewhere
And find my health again in the sea air,'
i{Beggar to beggar cried, being frenzy-struck,}
'And make my soul before my pate is bare.'

'And get a comfortable wife and house
To rid me of the devil in my shoes,'
i{Beggar to beggar cried, being frenzy-struck,}
'And the worse devil that is between my thighs.'

And though I'd marry with a comely lass,
She need not be too comely -- let it pass,'
i{Beggar to beggar cried, being frenzy-struck,}
'But there's a devil in a looking-glass.'

'Nor should she be too rich, because the rich
Are driven by wealth as beggars by the itch,'
i{Beggar to beggar cried, being frenzy-struck,}
'And cannot have a humorous happy speech.'

'And there I'll grow respected at my ease,
And hear amid the garden's nightly peace.'
i{Beggar to beggar cried, being frenzy-struck,}
'The wind-blown clamour of the barnacle-geese.'