Corpus of Electronic Texts Edition

Background details and bibliographic information

The Three Hermits

Author: William Butler Yeats

File Description

Electronic edition compiled and proof-read by Beatrix Färber, Juliette Maffet

Funded by School of History, University College, Cork

1. First draft.

Extent of text: 587 words

Publication

Distributed by CELT online at University College, Cork, Ireland.
Text ID Number: E910001-012

Availability [RESTRICTED]

The works by W. B. Yeats are in the public domain. This electronic text is available with prior consent of the CELT programme for purposes of private or academic research and teaching.

Sources

Bibliography
1. A bibliography is available online at the official web site of the Nobel Prize. See: http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1923/yeats-bibl.html

The edition used in the digital edition
1. William Butler Yeats The Three Hermits in , Ed. William Butler Yeats Responsibilities and other Poems. The Macmillan Company, New York, (1916) page 45–46

Encoding

Project Description

CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts

Sampling Declaration

The whole selection.

Editorial Declaration

Correction

Text has been proof-read twice.

Normalization

The electronic text represents the edited text. Lines (or parts of them) reproduced in italics in the printed edition are tagged hi rend="ital".

Hyphenation

The editorial practice of the hard-copy editor has been retained.

Segmentation

div0 =the poem, stanzas are marked lg.

Interpretation

Names of persons (given names), and places are not tagged. Terms for cultural and social roles are not tagged.

Profile Description

Created: By William Butler Yeats (1865–1939). Date range: before 1916.

Use of language

Language: [EN] The poem is in English.

Revision History

• (2012-02-29)

  Beatrix Färber (ed.)

• Proof corrections made by CELT volunteer Carol Cregg integrated.
• (2012-02-10)

  Beatrix Färber (ed.)

• File proofed (2), additions to encoding made; header completed; file parsed; SGML and HTML files created.
• (2012-02-01)

  Juliette Maffet (ed.)

• Header created.
• (2012-01-23)

  Juliette Maffet (ed.)

• First proofing.
• (2012-01-18)

  Juliette Maffet (file capture)

• Text captured by scanning.

Corpus of Electronic Texts Edition: E910001-012

The Three Hermits: Author: William Butler Yeats

p.45

1. Three old hermits took the air
   By a cold and desolate sea,
   First was muttering a prayer,
   Second rummaged for a flea;
   On a windy stone, the third,
   Giddy with his hundredth year,
   Sang unnoticed like a bird.
   'Though the Door of Death is near
   And what waits behind the door,
   Three times in a single day
   I, though upright on the shore,
   Fall asleep when I should pray.'
   So the first but now the second,
   'We're but given what we have earned
   When all thoughts and deeds are reckoned,
   So it's plain to be discerned

   ---

   p.46

   That the shades of holy men,
   Who have failed being weak of will,
   Pass the Door of Birth again,
   And are plagued by crowds, until
   They've the passion to escape.'
   Moaned the other, 'They are thrown
   Into some most fearful shape.'
   But the second mocked his moan:
   'They are not changed to anything,
   Having loved God once, but maybe,
   To a poet or a king
   Or a witty lovely lady.'
   While he'd rummaged rags and hair,
   Caught and cracked his flea, the third,
   Giddy with his hundredth year
   Sang unnoticed like a bird.