Yeats' "The Wheel"

The Wheel
by W. B. Yeats

Through winter-time we call on spring,
And through the spring on summer call,
And when abounding hedges ring
Declare that winter's best of all;
And after that there's nothing good
Because the spring-time has not come ---
Nor know that what disturbs our blood
Is but our longing for the tomb.

One reason I enjoy William Yeats' poetry is because some of it is quite short and to the point. Some poets are rather long-winded, and it's a struggle to figure out what they mean. Yeats, on the other hand, often says what he means, and does so quite briefly. Yet when you read his poetry, you often can put more than one interpretation to his simplest of poems. "The Wheel" is a good example.

In its words, you do not see anything about a wheel. Yet you can see that Yeats may be speaking about the wheel of life. Yet when you look deeper into the poem, the wheel reference could be about the simplicity of a wheel's function, to move forward, which also can be a reflection of how simple life's purpose is--also to move forward, but to the ultimate end.

Anyway, I like this poem because I can read it over and over, see different meanings in it, and really contemplate it because it's brief enough even to memorize.

Hope you enjoy it too!