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