ABSTRACT
Date and circumstances of composition. The poem was probably composed after 2 Dec. 1908, and some days before 13 Dec. The version of this poem entered by WBY in his new Journal as its first item carries the date ‘Dec. 1908’. The date is significant, in that it marks the beginning of the Journal itself, with WBY's trip to Paris which began on 2 Dec. The following entry begins ‘the other day in Paris’, and the entry after that is dated ‘Dec. 13’. It is clear that the poem in the Journal is not a first draft, but a fair copy with only a couple of minor emendations, so the work of composition must have taken place already. On arriving in Paris, WBY was busy: he was seeing a great deal of MG (who lived just across the street from his hotel), while composing a detailed scenario for his projected drama The Player Queen, and even taking French lessons. In the absence of other evidence, it appears that WBY composed this poem early in his stay; it is possible that work on it had begun before his departure from London: but late Nov. also had been a busy time, when from 22 Nov. onwards the poet had been deeply occupied with Mrs. Patrick Campbell's Deirdre (it may be worth remembering that the poet sensed a certain mythic congruence between the Irish Deirdre and the Greek Helen: see Troy, and Helen). It is more likely that the poem was written in Paris, with WBY's meeting MG again providing its creative momentum, than that was written in anticipation of that meeting.
