Classic Poetry

The Ghost Of Roger Casement

by William Butler Yeats

O WHAT has made that sudden noise?
What on the threshold stands?
It never crossed the sea because
John Bull and the sea are friends;
But this is not the old sea
Nor this the old seashore.
What gave that roar of mockery,
That roar in the sea's roar?
i{The ghost of Roger Casement}
i{Is beating on the door.}

John Bull has stood for Parliament,
A dog must have his day,
The country thinks no end of him,
For he knows how to say,
At a beanfeast or a banquet,
That all must hang their trust
Upon the British Empire,
Upon the Church of Christ.
i{The ghost of Roger Casement}
i{Is beating on the door.}

John Bull has gone to India
And all must pay him heed,
For histories are there to prove
That none of another breed
Has had a like inheritance,
Or sucked such milk as he,
And there's no luck about a house
If it lack honesty.
i{The ghost of Roger Casement}
i{Is beating on the door.}

I poked about a village church
And found his family tomb
And copied out what I could read
In that religious gloom;
Found many a famous man there;
But fame and virtue rot.
Draw round, beloved and bitter men,
Draw round and raise a shout;
i{The ghost of Roger Casement}
i{Is beating on the door.}

Classic Poetry

The Ghost Of Roger Casement

by William Butler Yeats

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