ABSTRACT
In WBY's own account, this poem was composed at Coole on 15 Sep. 1908; it is distinctly possible, however, that it was in fact composed in Jul. 1908. In a letter to the theatrical designer E. Gordon Craig of 15 Sep., WBY ended with these verses, introducing them with ‘Here is a poem I wrote this morning, you will probably sympathise with it’. From composition to TS in a day would have been something of a personal record for WBY. Although the poet was to go on to have a significant professional relationship with Craig (who designed, e.g., the costumes for The Hour-Glass), at this stage he was responding to a generous letter which had invited him to Florence (where Craig was then based), and which asked for contributions to Craig's art-journal Mask: it is possible that WBY was offering Craig this poem, though in the event it was not published in the journal.
