<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=us-ascii"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div dir="auto" style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div class="" style="color: rgb(23, 43, 77);"><span class="">After Reading Auden's Eulogy for Yeats </span></div><div class="" style="color: rgb(23, 43, 77);"><span class="">And Realizing I Had Better Write my Own</span></div><div class="" style="color: rgb(23, 43, 77);"><br class=""></div><div class="" style="color: rgb(23, 43, 77);">I have boxes of manuscripts</div><div class="" style="color: rgb(23, 43, 77);">few people have read.</div><div class="" style="color: rgb(23, 43, 77);">When I die, these manuscripts </div><div class="" style="color: rgb(23, 43, 77);">are ready to be shred.</div><div class="" style="color: rgb(23, 43, 77);"><br class=""></div><div class="" style="color: rgb(23, 43, 77);">A couple of poems,</div><div class="" style="color: rgb(23, 43, 77);">a couple of books, I'm proud I wrote.</div><div class="" style="color: rgb(23, 43, 77);">Friends know what I've wanted, </div><div class="" style="color: rgb(23, 43, 77);">but on me few fans will dote.</div><div class="" style="color: rgb(23, 43, 77);"><br class=""></div><div class="" style="color: rgb(23, 43, 77);">Some would say</div><div class="" style="color: rgb(23, 43, 77);">That's such a shame</div><div class="" style="color: rgb(23, 43, 77);">He found no audience,</div><div class="" style="color: rgb(23, 43, 77);">No one knew his name.</div><div class="" style="color: rgb(23, 43, 77);"><br class=""></div><div class="" style="color: rgb(23, 43, 77);">I don't regret my anonymity</div><div class="" style="color: rgb(23, 43, 77);">or epic failures</div><div class="" style="color: rgb(23, 43, 77);">At the end of time</div><div class="" style="color: rgb(23, 43, 77);">Only devotion to the muse endures.</div><div class="" style="color: rgb(23, 43, 77);"><br class=""></div><div class="" style="color: rgb(23, 43, 77);">You need so much quiet</div><div class="" style="color: rgb(23, 43, 77);"> to hear the Muse's voice.</div><div class="" style="color: rgb(23, 43, 77);">When she speaks to you,</div><div class="" style="color: rgb(23, 43, 77);">you have no choice.</div><div class="" style="color: rgb(23, 43, 77);"><br class=""></div><div class="" style="color: rgb(23, 43, 77);">You turn away from parties,</div><div class="" style="color: rgb(23, 43, 77);">family and friends</div><div class="" style="color: rgb(23, 43, 77);">You need silence</div><div class="" style="color: rgb(23, 43, 77);">to hear the signals that she sends.</div><div class="" style="color: rgb(23, 43, 77);"><br class=""></div><div class="" style="color: rgb(23, 43, 77);">When I take pen in hand,</div><div class="" style="color: rgb(23, 43, 77);">I stare out the window and pray</div><div class="" style="color: rgb(23, 43, 77);">That I can recreate the beauty that I sense.</div><div class="" style="color: rgb(23, 43, 77);"><br class=""></div><div class="" style="color: rgb(23, 43, 77);">With such devotion, my art is made.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>- George Taylor</div></div></body></html>