After Long Silence

by William Butler Yeats — a poem card from Justes Mots

Two aging lovers reunite after long silence and speak again of art and love, recognizing that bodily decline brings wisdom they lacked in youth. Yeats affirms that experience and maturity deepen love's meaning beyond physical passion. Ideal for long-term anniversaries, celebrating how love and understanding grow richer with age and shared history.

Speech after long silence; it is right,
All other lovers being estranged or dead,
Unfriendly lamplight hid under its shade,
The curtains drawn upon unfriendly night,
That we descant and yet again descant
Upon the supreme theme of Art and Song:
Bodily decrepitude is wisdom; young
We loved each other and were ignorant.…

Themes: love · new-baby · wedding · friendship