"Yeats' waning poetic genius"?
"I balanced all, brought all to mind,
The years to come seemed waste of breath,
A waste of breath the years behind
In balance with this life, this death." For some days now, pondering these first three poems, no comment seemed really relevant. Probably just because these poems are just so accessable and uncomplicated. Let me take exception to Quark's comment as quoted above and insist Yeats still had the ability to create more complex forms but I don't think he wanted that in this writing. The forseen death seems to have taken on almost a serene quality, i.e. complete and non-stressed acceptance. These poems are much more enjoyable than I remembered from the first reading (back in the day).