Skip to content
Linespedia

Alternative Song For The Severd Head In "The King Of The Great Clock Tower"

Topics: classic

Saddle and ride, I heard a man say, Out of Ben Bulben and Knocknarea, i(What says the Clock in the Great Clock Tower?) All those tragic characters ride But turn from Rosses' crawling tide, The meet's upon the mountain-side. i(A slow low note and an iron bell.) What brought them there so far from their home. Cuchulain that fought night long with the foam, i(What says the Clock in the Great Clock Tower?) Niamh that rode on it; lad and lass That sat so still and played at the chess? What but heroic wantonness? i(A slow low note and an iron bell.) Aleel, his Countess; Hanrahan That seemed but a wild wenching man; i(What says the Clock in the Great Clock Tower?) And all alone comes riding there The King that could make his people stare, Because he had feathers instead of hair. i(A slow low note and an iron bell.)

AI analysis available. Enable JavaScript to interact.

About this line

"Saddle and ride, I heard a man say,..."

William Butler Yeats's contribution to classic is further solidified by the brilliance found in "Alternative Song For The Severd Head In "The King Of The Great Clock Tower""... ### Why We Love This Line At Linespedia, we believe that poetry is the ultimate sanctuary for the soul...

Classified Tags

Related lines

"As the moon sidles up Must she sidle up, As trips the scared moon Away must she trip: "His light had struck me blind Dared I stop'. She sings as"

"O sweet everlasting Voices be still; Go to the guards of the heavenly fold And bid them wander obeying your will Flame under flame, till Time be no"

"Hurrah for revolution and more cannon-shot! A beggar upon horseback lashes a beggar on foot. Hurrah for revolution and cannon come again! The begga"

"The girl goes dancing there On the leaf-sown, new-mown, smooth Grass plot of the garden; Escaped from bitter youth, Escaped out of her crowd, Or"

"Here morning in the ploughman's songs is met     Ere yet one footstep shows in all the sky,     And twilight in the east, a doubt as yet,     S"

"The Text is taken from Percy's Reliques (1765), vol. i. p. 71, 'given from two MS. copies, transmitted from Scotland.' Herd had a very similar bal"

Continue Reading

"As the moon sidles up Must she sidle up, As trips ..."

Weekly Poetic Insight

Join our literary Sanctuary

Get the most inspiring lines, poetic analysis, and secret shayaris delivered to your inbox every Sunday.