

#The Three Hermits


<!-- // 
 function footNote(link) {
 openpopup = window.open(link,"openpopup","width=512,height=128,left=256,top=256,resizable=no,scrollbars=1,menubar=1,statusbar=0,toolbar=0");
}
// -->



#### Corpus of Electronic Texts Edition


### Background details and bibliographic information


The Three Hermits
=================


Author: William Butler Yeats
----------------------------


### File Description

Electronic edition compiled and proof-read by Beatrix Färber, Juliette Maffet

Funded by School of History, University College, Cork 1. First draft.Extent of text: 587 words#### Publication


CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts: a project of University College, Cork  
College Road, Cork, Ireland—http://www.ucc.ie/celt

 (2012) Distributed by CELT online at University College, Cork, Ireland.  
Text ID Number: E910001-012Availability [RESTRICTED] 
The works by W. B. Yeats are in the public domain. This electronic text is available with prior consent of the CELT programme for purposes of private or academic research and teaching.


#### Sources


**Bibliography**2. A bibliography is available online at the official web site of the Nobel Prize. See: http://nobelprize.org/nobel\_prizes/literature/laureates/1923/yeats-bibl.html
**The edition used in the digital edition**2. William Butler Yeats The Three Hermits in , Ed. William Butler Yeats Responsibilities and other Poems. The Macmillan Company, New York, (1916) page 45–46

### Encoding


#### Project Description


CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts


#### Sampling Declaration


The whole selection.


#### Editorial Declaration


##### Correction


Text has been proof-read twice.


##### Normalization


The electronic text represents the edited text. Lines (or parts of them) reproduced in italics in the printed edition are tagged hi rend="ital".


##### Hyphenation


The editorial practice of the hard-copy editor has been retained.


##### Segmentation


div0 =the poem, stanzas are marked lg.


##### Interpretation


Names of persons (given names), and places are not tagged. Terms for cultural and social roles are not tagged.


### Profile Description


Created: By William Butler Yeats (1865–1939).

 Date range: before 1916.#### Use of language


##### Language: [EN] The poem is in English.


### Revision History


* (2012-02-29) Beatrix Färber (ed.)

* Proof corrections made by CELT volunteer Carol Cregg integrated.
* (2012-02-10) Beatrix Färber (ed.)

* File proofed (2), additions to encoding made; header completed; file parsed; SGML and HTML files created.
* (2012-02-01) Juliette Maffet (ed.)

* Header created.
* (2012-01-23) Juliette Maffet (ed.)

* First proofing.
* (2012-01-18) Juliette Maffet (file capture)

* Text captured by scanning.




---


#### Corpus of Electronic Texts Edition: E910001-012


### The Three Hermits: Author: William Butler Yeats




---

p.45


1. Three old hermits took the air
  
By a cold and desolate sea,
  
First was muttering a prayer,
  
Second rummaged for a flea;
  
On a windy stone, the third,
  
Giddy with his hundredth year,
  
Sang unnoticed like a bird.
  
'Though the Door of Death is near
  
And what waits behind the door,
  
Three times in a single day
  
I, though upright on the shore,
  
Fall asleep when I should pray.'
  
So the first but now the second,
  
'We're but given what we have earned
  
When all thoughts and deeds are reckoned,
  
So it's plain to be discerned


---

p.46


That the shades of holy men,
  
Who have failed being weak of will,
  
Pass the Door of Birth again,
  
And are plagued by crowds, until
  
They've the passion to escape.'
  
Moaned the other, 'They are thrown
  
Into some most fearful shape.'
  
But the second mocked his moan:
  
'They are not changed to anything,
  
Having loved God once, but maybe,
  
To a poet or a king
  
Or a witty lovely lady.'
  
While he'd rummaged rags and hair,
  
Caught and cracked his flea, the third,
  
Giddy with his hundredth year
  
Sang unnoticed like a bird.










