Beggar to Beggar Cried

William Butler Yeats's Beggar to Beggar Cried

William Butler Yeats, one of the foremost figures of twentieth-century literature, often explored themes of desire, decay, and spiritual unrest in his poetry. “Beggar to Beggar Cried” (1914), from his collection Responsibilities, is a striking yet often overlooked poem that encapsulates the anxieties of aging, the search for stability, and the paradoxes of human longing. Through the voice of a “frenzy-struck” beggar, Yeats crafts a monologue that is at once humorous and despairing, revealing the universal human struggle between aspiration and limitation. This essay will examine the poem’s historical and biographical context, its use of literary devices, its thematic preoccupations, and its emotional resonance, demonstrating how Yeats transforms a seemingly simple dialogue between beggars into a profound meditation on mortality and desire.

Historical and Biographical Context

To fully appreciate “Beggar to Beggar Cried,” one must consider its place within Yeats’s oeuvre and the broader cultural moment in which it was written. By 1914, Yeats was entering his late forties, a period marked by personal and artistic reassessment. The poem appears in Responsibilities, a collection that reflects his disillusionment with Irish nationalism, his unrequited love for Maud Gonne, and his growing preoccupation with aging and legacy. The beggar’s frenzied speech can be read as a manifestation of Yeats’s own midlife crisis—a fear of decline coupled with a desperate yearning for renewal.

The early twentieth century was also a time of social upheaval, with the rise of modernism challenging traditional poetic forms. Yeats, though rooted in Romantic and Symbolist traditions, was increasingly experimenting with more direct, colloquial language. The beggar’s crude, urgent declarations—particularly his references to “the devil in my shoes” and “the worse devil that is between my thighs”—reflect this shift toward a rawer, more unfiltered expression of human desire. The poem’s setting, too, is significant: the beggars, marginalized figures, serve as unlikely yet poignant mouthpieces for existential anxieties, suggesting that such concerns transcend class and status.

Literary Devices and Structure

Yeats employs several key literary devices to convey the beggar’s desperation and the poem’s underlying themes. The most striking is repetition, particularly the refrain “Beggar to beggar cried, being frenzy-struck,” which underscores the speaker’s agitated state. This repetition creates a rhythmic, almost incantatory effect, mimicking the compulsive nature of the beggar’s thoughts. His speech is not measured or rational but rather a torrent of contradictions—he desires a wife, but not too comely a one; he seeks wealth, but not too much. These paradoxes reveal the instability of his desires, suggesting that no fulfillment will ever be sufficient.

Another notable device is the use of demonic imagery. The beggar repeatedly refers to “devils”—in his shoes, between his thighs, and in the looking-glass. These devils symbolize the inescapable torments of the flesh: sexual desire, physical discomfort, and vanity. The looking-glass, in particular, serves as a metaphor for self-reflection and the inevitable disillusionment that comes with it. The beggar fears not only external hardship but also the internal demons that haunt his psyche.

The poem’s closing image—“the wind-blown clamor of the barnacle-geese”—introduces a moment of lyrical beauty amidst the beggar’s ramblings. The geese, migratory and wild, contrast sharply with his desire for domestic stability. Their “clamor” suggests both freedom and chaos, perhaps indicating that the peace he seeks is illusory. This juxtaposition of the mundane (“a comfortable wife and house”) and the sublime (the natural world) highlights the tension between human aspirations and the indifferent forces of nature.

Themes: Desire, Aging, and the Illusion of Escape

At its core, “Beggar to Beggar Cried” is a poem about the impossibility of perfect satisfaction. The beggar’s litany of wants—health, a wife, respect, peace—reflects universal human longings, yet each desire is undercut by qualification or fear. He does not simply want a wife; he wants one who is “not too comely” and “not too rich,” revealing his anxiety about inadequacy and control. His fantasy of respectability is tinged with irony, as the very act of begging renders such aspirations absurd.

Aging is another central concern. The opening line—“Time to put off the world and go somewhere”—suggests a weariness, a desire to retreat from life’s burdens. The phrase “make my soul before my pate is bare” carries both religious and existential weight; it implies a last-ditch effort at spiritual redemption before death (symbolized by baldness, a traditional marker of aging). The beggar’s frenzy, then, is not just about material wants but about the terror of time slipping away without fulfillment.

The poem also interrogates the idea of escape. The beggar dreams of the sea air and a quiet garden, yet his speech remains trapped in cyclical repetition, as if he cannot break free from his own neuroses. Even his vision of peace is punctuated by the chaotic cries of geese, suggesting that tranquility is always just out of reach. This mirrors Yeats’s broader philosophical concerns—the human struggle against fate, the fleeting nature of happiness, and the inevitable return of unrest.

Comparative Readings and Philosophical Underpinnings

“Beggar to Beggar Cried” can be fruitfully compared to other Yeats poems that explore similar themes. In “The Lake Isle of Innisfree,” for instance, the speaker longs for an idyllic retreat, yet the poem’s closing lines reveal that this desire exists only “in the deep heart’s core”—it is a fantasy, not a reality. Similarly, the beggar’s imagined domestic bliss is undercut by his own reservations. Another illuminating comparison is with “Sailing to Byzantium,” where the aging speaker seeks transcendence through art, fleeing the “dying generations” of the physical world. The beggar, however, lacks such a redemptive vision; his desires remain stubbornly earthbound, mired in the body’s limitations.

Philosophically, the poem resonates with Schopenhauer’s notion of the will—the idea that human desire is insatiable and that suffering arises from the endless pursuit of fulfillment. The beggar’s frenzied state exemplifies this condition: no matter what he attains, there will always be another “devil” to plague him. Yet there is also a darkly comic element to his predicament, reminiscent of Beckett’s tramps in Waiting for Godot, who are similarly trapped in cycles of hope and despair.

Emotional Impact and Cultural Relevance

Despite its seemingly bleak outlook, “Beggar to Beggar Cried” is not without empathy. The beggar’s voice, though frenetic, is deeply human—his fears and desires are recognizable, even relatable. Yeats captures the absurdity of human ambition while also acknowledging its pathos. The poem’s emotional power lies in this duality: it is at once a satire of human folly and a poignant expression of existential dread.

Culturally, the poem speaks to the modern condition—our perpetual dissatisfaction in an age of abundance, our simultaneous longing for and distrust of stability. The beggar’s predicament mirrors contemporary anxieties about purpose, aging, and the elusive nature of contentment. In this sense, Yeats’s poem remains strikingly relevant, a testament to poetry’s ability to articulate timeless human struggles.

Conclusion

“Beggar to Beggar Cried” is a masterful exploration of desire, decay, and the illusions we construct to stave off despair. Through its frenetic refrain, its vivid imagery, and its paradoxical longings, Yeats crafts a portrait of human vulnerability that is both darkly humorous and deeply moving. The poem stands as a testament to Yeats’s ability to distill profound existential questions into deceptively simple verse, reminding us that even the most marginalized voices can articulate universal truths. In the beggar’s cries, we hear our own unquiet longings—the devils we cannot outrun, the peace we cannot quite attain.