The First Poem I Ever Loved

"Politics" by William Butler Yeats

`In our time the destiny of man presents its meanings in
political terms' - Thomas Mann

HOW can I, that girl standing there,
My attention fix
On Roman or on Russian
Or on Spanish politics?
Yet here's a travelled man that knows
What he talks about,
And there's a politician
That has read and thought,
And maybe what they say is true
Of war and war's alarms,
But O that I were young again
And held her in my arms!

I first read this poem in ninth grade and loved it instantly. It's probably telling that my first literary love was an Irish poet. A bit of foreshadowing for my literary soulmate, James Joyce. And here's a recording of Yeats reading his poem "The Lake Isle of Innisfree." Apologies for the creepy animation of Yeats speaking that accompanies it.