Mad as the Mist and Snow by W.B. Yeats

One of the pleasures of reading Yeats, at least for me, is that I don't have a huge capacity to read much of his work at a sitting. I much prefer to savour a poem or two for a while and then come back to the bar for some more. Consequently, there is always more Yeats to discover and enjoy. A lifelong treat.

Mad as the Mist and Snow
by W.B. Yeats

Bolt and bar the shutter,
For the foul winds blow:
Our minds are at their best this night,
And I seem to know
That everything outside us is
Mad as the mist and snow.

Horace there by Homer stands,
Plato stands below,
And here is Tully's open page.
How many years ago
Were you and I unlettered lads
Mad as the mist and snow?

You ask what makes me sigh, old friend,
What makes me shudder so?
I shudder and I sigh to think
That even Cicero
And many-minded Homer were
Mad as the mist and snow.