This book is hilarious! It’s easy to read and straight to the point. If you like the Irish I would highly reccomend this.

These aren’t as happy as his earlier poems, so if your interested in Yeats I would recommend those first.

Easter 1916I HAVE met them at close of day
Coming with vivid faces
From counter or desk among grey
Eighteenth-century houses.
I have passed with a nod of the head
Or polite meaningless words,
Or have lingered awhile and said
Polite meaningless words,
And thought before I had done
Of a mocking tale or a gibe
To please a companion
Around the fire at the club,
Being certain that they and I
But lived where motley is worn:
All changed, changed utterly:
A terrible beauty is born.

That woman’s days were spent
In ignorant good-will,
Her nights in argument
Until her voice grew shrill.
What voice more sweet than hers
When, young and beautiful,
She rode to harriers?
This man had kept a school
And rode our winged horse;
This other his helper and friend
Was coming into his force;
He might have won fame in the end,
So sensitive his nature seemed,
So daring and sweet his thought.
This other man I had dreamed
A drunken, vainglorious lout.
He had done most bitter wrong
To some who are near my heart,
Yet I number him in the song;
He, too, has resigned his part
In the casual comedy;
He, too, has been changed in his turn,
Transformed utterly:
A terrible beauty is born.

Hearts with one purpose alone
Through summer and winter seem
Enchanted to a stone
To trouble the living stream.
The horse that comes from the road.
The rider, the birds that range
From cloud to tumbling cloud,
Minute by minute they change;
A shadow of cloud on the stream
Changes minute by minute;
A horse-hoof slides on the brim,
And a horse plashes within it;
The long-legged moor-hens dive,
And hens to moor-cocks call;
Minute by minute they live:
The stone’s in the midst of all.

Too long a sacrifice
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.

My favorite:

A Drinking Song
Wine comes in at the mouth
And love comes in at the eye;
That’s all we shall know for truth
Before we grow old and die.
I lift the glass to my mouth
I look at you, and I sigh

This is VERY informative. Even though the guide clearly points out that “eating meat means eating corpses” not only straightforward in the introduction but also by its 2,000 + listings, I still eat meat! I guess product presentation is everything.

I grew up on this shit! LOVE IT!

After 1000pgs and plenty of training, I am now an EMT! :)

Cultures commonly adopt heroes or project a heroic image onto certain individuals with the intention of using them as a fortification against anything foreign. Most often, heroes or heroic images will also convey the idealistic qualities a culture reveres. Consequently, heroes and individuals are pressured to uphold a predetermined heroic image; any mistakes cause them ridicule. The Celtic/Irish hero is often overtaken by passion and revered for criminal activity, while other cultures condemn such acts. Conveyed by Christopher Mahon in John Synge’s play The Playboy of the Western World, the image of the traditional Celtic/Irish hero is both revered and lampooned.
In the play, the peasants who reside in the mundane village are starved for something heroic, and Christy Mahon arrives well-timed. After learning he is a “law-fearing man” wanted to hang by the neck above “hell’s gaping gap” for murdering his father, the common people immediately project a heroic image onto him. However, Christy Mahon never killed his father, and once more, later on, still fails to kill him. Thus, Christy Mahon’s timid demeanor lampoons the image of the traditional Celtic/Irish hero. Ironically, Pegeen Mike, the audacious and doughty woman surrounded by wimpy men, is overtaken by the presence of a heroic image in the dull town and recognizes this opportune moment as her escape. When the truth surrounding Christy Mahon’s crime is revealed, Pegeen Mike has lost her opportunity to obtain a better life; and will remain distressed in the stagnant village until death receives her.
Even other cultures have basic expectations of a hero to overcome all evils and rescue the distressed woman. Although the village peasants appropriately revere Christy Mahon’s fabricated identity, his failure to uphold it ridicules the traditional image of any cultural hero, but even more so the traditional image of the Celtic/Irish hero.

This was an easy read, but very insightful to the life of a 911 dispatcher. Very funny and quick witted. There are several editorial mistakes, which will stand out to any literature junkie, but nothing major. I would recommend this to anyone interested/involved in dispatch/police/fire profession.

There were some good points and writing in this book, but for the most part I found it boring. I think I am growing out of the subject though—if your into that kind of stuff, you will probably enjoy it.

This book contains a bunch of excerpts from various texts about utopia. It is a good reference to have if your interested in the subject and looking for some good utopia book suggestions.