Can make a stone of the heart.
O when may it suffice?
That is Heaven's part, our part
To murmur name upon name,
As a mother names her child
When sleep at last has come
On limbs that had run wild.
What is it but nightfall?
No,no, not night but death;
Was it needless death after all?
For England may keep faith
For all that is done and said.
We know their dream; enough
To know they dreamed and are dead;
And what if excess of love
Bewildered them till they died?
I write it out in a verse-
Macdonagh and Macbride
And Connolly and Pearse
Now and in time to be,
Wherever green is worn,
Are changed, changed utterly;
A terrible beauty is born.
Highlighted Background: Rhyming words, and the matching colors are the words that rhyme together.
Highlighted Text: Repeated use of words.
underline: Names of those who died in the Easter Rebellion
Italics: The actions taking place during the rebellion, and the deaths of those who are fighting
Bold Stone: Meaning permanent and even forever remembered
Different font: Terrible beauty, meaning a great thing was born, through a horrible process.
This stanza is speaking about how those who died will be forever remembered and spoken about for their dreams, actions, and importance within Ireland. However, W.B. Yeats believes their deaths may have been pointless in the end, since they died because Pearse and Clarke both went ahead with their attack even though not all of their men were ready. He's saying if they had waited when everyone was ready, they could have still become heroes and succeed in their plans, without them dying. But maybe, they chose this type of death because they didn't want to be recognized alive, as said in the line "[a]nd what if excess of love bewildered them till they died?" They only wanted to be remembered by people as those who began the revolution, and sparked the fire in the Irish, in order for Ireland to gain independence.
