I really need help with understanding this poem.... I have to do a three step method... the first step is the actual meaning.... the second step is the metaphoric meaning.... and the third is the literary devices/techniques used.. PLEASE SOMEBODY HELP ME!! THANX

You might want to read this before doing further research:

[www.pgil-eirdata.org] />
Les

I HEAR the Shadowy Horses, their long manes a-shake,
Their hoofs heavy with tumult, their eyes glimmering white;
The North unfolds above them clinging, creeping night,
The East her hidden joy before the morning break,
The West weeps in pale dew and sighs passing away, 5
The South is pouring down roses of crimson fire:
O vanity of Sleep, Hope, Dream, endless Desire,
The Horses of Disaster plunge in the heavy clay:
Beloved, let your eyes half close, and your heart beat
Over my heart, and your hair fall over my breast, 10
Drowning love’s lonely hour in deep twilight of rest,
And hiding their tossing manes and their tumultuous feet.


Shadowy horses are a death symbol. Bartleby says the title is Michael Robartes Bids His Love etc. so Maud Gonne becomes suspect as the subject of this one, for a change. Yeats did several other poems about Robartes, but I am not sure this was a character in Ireland's history. Duddunt matter for the assignment, anyway.

The actual meaning is an elegy, I would think. Metaphoric meaning I don't follow. Literary devices & techniques would include metaphors, yes, along with personification. What else?

poetry sucks. I hate it and it hates me. If you like this stuff you are retarded.