The Circle Animal Desertion : Quotations
The Circle Animal Desertion is a notable literary work by William Butler Yeats. A complete discussion of this literary work is given, which will help you enhance your literary skills and prepare for the exam. Read the Main texts, Key info, Summary, Themes, Characters, Literary devices, Quotations, Notes, and various study materials of The Circle Animal Desertion.
Quotations
Quotes
“I sought a theme and sought for it in vain,
I sought it daily for six weeks or so.”
Explanation: These opening lines show Yeats’s deep creative frustration. He searches for inspiration but finds nothing. The poet admits that his imagination—once full of mythical energy—has deserted him. This reveals Yeats’s inner emptiness and his painful self-realization in old age.
“Players and painted stage took all my love
And not those things that they were emblems of.”
Explanation: Yeats confesses that he once loved the beauty of art itself—the “painted stage”—more than the real emotions that inspired it. He was enchanted by dreams and symbols, forgetting their human roots. This shows his self-criticism and maturity as a poet.
“Now that my ladder’s gone,
I must lie down where all the ladders start—
In the foul rag and bone shop of the heart.”
Explanation: These closing lines express Yeats’s ultimate realization: all poetry begins and ends in the human heart—with its pain, love, and imperfection. He accepts that true art does not rise from divine ideals, but from human emotion and struggle.