The Dolls

William Butler Yeats

1865 to 1939

Poem Image
Track 1

Reconstruct the poem by dragging each line into its correct position. Your goal is to reassemble the original poem as accurately as possible. As you move the lines, you'll see whether your arrangement is correct, helping you explore the poem's flow and meaning. You can also print out the jumbled poem to cut up and reassemble in the classroom. Either way, take your time, enjoy the process, and discover how the poet's words come together to create something truly beautiful.

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There's not a man can report
And crouched by the arm of his chair,
It was an accident.'
She murmurs into his ear,
'My dear, my dear, oh dear,
Her husband has heard the wretch,
A doll in the doll-maker's house
Who had seen, being kept for show,
Hither to our disgrace,
'That is an insult to us.'
Hearing him groan and stretch
But the oldest of all the dolls
Evil of this place,
The man and the woman bring
Looks at the cradle and balls:
Out-screams the whole shelf: 'Although
The doll-maker's wife is aware
Head upon shoulder leant:
Generations of his sort,
A noisy and filthy thing.'