A Meditation in Time of War by William Butler Yeats

For one throb of the artery,
While on that old grey stone I sat
Under the old wind-broken tree,
I knew that One is animate
Mankind inanimate phantasy.

More from William Butler Yeats:

• The Witch
• To a Shade
• To an Isle in the Water
• To Ireland in the Coming Times
• To the Rose upon the Rood of Time
• The Tower