--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Anyone who has read Yeats's wonderful…" description: "\"Anyone who has read Yeats's wonderful Autobiography will remember his Sligo shabby, shadowed, half country and half sea, full of confused romance, supe..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1fd/randall-jarrell-3811_anachronism_anyone-who-has-read-yeats-s-wonderful-au_3048196.jpg" --- # Anyone who has read Yeats's wonderful Autobiography will… ![“Anyone who has read Yeats's wonderful Autobiography will remember his Sligo shabby, shadowed, half country and half sea, full of confused romance, superstition, poverty, eccentricity, unrecognized anachronism, passion and ignorance and the little boy's misery. Yeats was treated well but was…” quote by Randall Jarrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1fd/randall-jarrell-3811_anachronism_anyone-who-has-read-yeats-s-wonderful-au_3048196.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1fd/randall-jarrell-3811_anachronism_anyone-who-has-read-yeats-s-wonderful-au_3048196.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1fd/randall-jarrell-3811_anachronism_anyone-who-has-read-yeats-s-wonderful-au_3048196.jpg) > “Anyone who has read Yeats's wonderful Autobiography will remember his Sligo shabby, shadowed, half country and half sea, full of confused romance, superstition, poverty, eccentricity, unrecognized anachronism, passion and ignorance and the little boy's misery. Yeats was treated well but was bitterly unhappy; he prayed that he would die, and used often to say to himself: "When you are grown up, never talk as grown-up people do of the happiness of childhood.” [Randall Jarrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randall-jarrell/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote reflects on Yeats's complex childhood environment and his later bitterness, urging adults not to romanticize childhood happiness. **In simple terms:** Yeats's tough youth and adult sorrow warn against idealizing childhood. Key Takeaway Avoid idealizing childhood; recognize adult complexities. Themes nostalgia childhood disillusionment Mood melancholic reflective Type literary philosophical. When to use this quote - literary analysis - personal reflection - mental health counseling Key Concepts autobiography psychology memory Questions to Reflect On - How does nostalgia distort our view of the past? - What can we learn from Yeats's adult regrets? A Different Perspective Adults often overlook the hardships behind nostalgic memories. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Anachronism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anachronism/) [Autobiography](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/autobiography/) [Boys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boys/) [Childhood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/childhood/) [Confused](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/confused/) [Country](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/country/) [Dies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dies/) [Eccentricity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eccentricity/) [Half](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/half/) [Ignorance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ignorance/) [Little boys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/little-boys/) [Littles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/littles/) [Misery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/misery/) [Misery Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/misery-yeats-5057550/) [Passion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/passion/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Poverty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poverty/) [Read Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/read-yeats-5057551/) [Remember](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/remember/) [Romance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/romance/) [Sea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sea/) [Shabby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shabby/) [Superstitions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/superstitions/) [Treated](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/treated/) [Unhappy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unhappy/) [Used](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/used/) [Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wells/) [Wonderful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wonderful/) [Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/yeats/) [Yeats Treated](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/yeats-treated-5057552/) [Yeats Wonderful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/yeats-wonderful-5057553/) ## Related quotes > [When you stroll through Munich it can happen that you suddenly stand in front of an old house, an idyllically-dreaming church that smiles like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-goebbels/when-you-stroll-through-munich-it-can-happen-that-you-suddenly-stand/) [Joseph Goebbels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-goebbels/) > [One already feels like an anachronism, writing novels in the age of what-ever-this-is-the-age-of, but touring to promote them feels doubly anachronistic. The marketplace is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lev-grossman/one-already-feels-like-an-anachronism-writing-novels-in-the-age-of/) [Lev Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lev-grossman/) > [I wouldnt mind seeing opera die. Ever since I was a boy, I regarded opera as a ponderous anachronism, almost the equivalent of smoking.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-lloyd-wright/i-wouldnt-mind-seeing-opera-die-ever-since-i-was-a-boy-i-regarded/) [Frank Lloyd Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-lloyd-wright/) > [Thanks to the Polgars the adjective 'men's' before events and the 'affirmative action' women's titles such as Woman Grandmaster have become anachronisms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garry-kasparov/thanks-to-the-polgars-the-adjective-men-s-before-events-and-the/) [Garry Kasparov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garry-kasparov/) > [Some of my favorite photos from the old days are of people who maybe didn't know how to smile. Maybe smiling in photos wasn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ransom-riggs/some-of-my-favorite-photos-from-the-old-days-are-of-people-who-maybe/) [Ransom Riggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ransom-riggs/) > [A linguist deaf to the poetic functions of language and a literary scholar indifferent to linguistics are equally flagrant anachronisms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roman-jakobson/a-linguist-deaf-to-the-poetic-functions-of-language-and-a-literary/) [Roman Jakobson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roman-jakobson/) > [“The biggest anachronism, usually, in a historical movie is, again, the author doesn’t want to be thought to in any way share the social…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-e-woods-jr/the-biggest-anachronism-usually-in-a-historical-movie-is-again-the/) [Thomas E. Woods Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-e-woods-jr/) > [If I was a poet, I had become one because poetry, more intensely than any other practice, could not evade its anachronism and marginality…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-lerner/if-i-was-a-poet-i-had-become-one-because-poetry-more-intensely-than/) [Ben Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-lerner/) > [Dignity is an anachronism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-glasgow/dignity-is-an-anachronism/) [Ellen Glasgow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-glasgow/) > [Reality is partial to symmetry and slight anachronisms](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jorge-luis-borges/reality-is-partial-to-symmetry-and-slight-anachronisms/) [Jorge Luis Borges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jorge-luis-borges/) > [“THE ALLIGATOR IS AN ANACHRONISM THAT CAN EAT YOU!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-russell/the-alligator-is-an-anachronism-that-can-eat-you/) [Karen Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-russell/) > [The energy that actually shapes the world springs from emotions - racial pride, leader-worship, religious belief, love of war - which liberal intellectuals mechanically…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/the-energy-that-actually-shapes-the-world-springs-from-emotions/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [I call myself a gorgeous anachronism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jinkx-monsoon/i-call-myself-a-gorgeous-anachronism/) [Jinkx Monsoon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jinkx-monsoon/) > [The greatest temptation for the like of us is: to renounce violence, to repent, to make peace with oneself. Most revolutionaries fell before this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/the-greatest-temptation-for-the-like-of-us-is-to-renounce-violence-to/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [Independent self-reliant people would be a counterproductive anachronism in the collective society of the future where people will be defined by their associations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/independent-self-reliant-people-would-be-a-counterproductive/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) ## More by Randall Jarrell > [“She helped the hunter with the cooking as a husband helps his wife: when he had gone out to hunt and left something to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randall-jarrell/she-helped-the-hunter-with-the-cooking-as-a-husband-helps-his-wife/) [Randall Jarrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randall-jarrell/) > [We read our mail and counted up our missions In bombers named for girls, we burned The cities we had learned about in school…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randall-jarrell/we-read-our-mail-and-counted-up-our-missions-in-bombers-named-for/) [Randall Jarrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randall-jarrell/) > [One of the most obvious facts about grown-ups, to a child, is that they have forgotten what it is like to be a child.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randall-jarrell/one-of-the-most-obvious-facts-about-grown-ups-to-a-child-is-that-they/) [Randall Jarrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randall-jarrell/) > [Goethe said that the worst thing in art is technical facility accompanied by triteness. Many an artist, like God, has never needed to think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randall-jarrell/goethe-said-that-the-worst-thing-in-art-is-technical-facility/) [Randall Jarrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randall-jarrell/) > [Age could not wither nor custom stale her infinite monotony: in fact, neither Age nor Custom could do anything (as they said, their voices…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randall-jarrell/age-could-not-wither-nor-custom-stale-her-infinite-monotony-in-fact/) [Randall Jarrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randall-jarrell/) > [A poet is a man who manages, in a lifetime of standing out in thunderstorms, to be struck by lightning five or six times.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randall-jarrell/a-poet-is-a-man-who-manages-in-a-lifetime-of-standing-out-in/) [Randall Jarrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randall-jarrell/) > [More and more people think of the critic as an indispensable middle man between writer and reader, and would no more read a book…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randall-jarrell/more-and-more-people-think-of-the-critic-as-an-indispensable-middle/) [Randall Jarrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randall-jarrell/) > [“The tags' chain stirs with the wind; and I sleep Paid, dead, and a soldier. Who fights for his own life Loses, loses: I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randall-jarrell/the-tags-chain-stirs-with-the-wind-and-i-sleep-paid-dead-and-a/) [Randall Jarrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randall-jarrell/) > [First one gets works of art, then criticism of them, then criticism of the criticism, and, finally, a book on The Literary Situation ,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randall-jarrell/first-one-gets-works-of-art-then-criticism-of-them-then-criticism-of/) [Randall Jarrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randall-jarrell/) > [ Early in his life Mr. \[Ezra\] Pound met with strong, continued, and unintelligent opposition. If people keep opposing you when you are right, you… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randall-jarrell/early-in-his-life-mr-ezra-pound-met-with-strong-continued-and/) [Randall Jarrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randall-jarrell/) > [Some of Mr. Gregory's poems have merely appeared in The New Yorker ; others are New Yorker poems: the inclusive topicality, the informed and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randall-jarrell/some-of-mr-gregory-s-poems-have-merely-appeared-in-the-new-yorker/) [Randall Jarrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randall-jarrell/) > [A successful poem says what a poet wants to say, and more, with particular finality. The remarks he makes about his poems are incidental…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randall-jarrell/a-successful-poem-says-what-a-poet-wants-to-say-and-more-with/) [Randall Jarrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randall-jarrell/) > [One Whitman is miracle enough, and when he comes again it will be the end of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randall-jarrell/one-whitman-is-miracle-enough-and-when-he-comes-again-it-will-be-the/) [Randall Jarrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randall-jarrell/) > [Robert Frost says in a piece of homely doggerel that he has hoped wisdom could be not only Attic but Laconic, Boeotian even -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randall-jarrell/robert-frost-says-in-a-piece-of-homely-doggerel-that-he-has-hoped/) [Randall Jarrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randall-jarrell/) > [Most people don't listen to classical music at all, but to rock-and-roll or hillbilly songs or some album named Music To Listen To Music…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randall-jarrell/most-people-don-t-listen-to-classical-music-at-all-but-to-rock-and/) [Randall Jarrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randall-jarrell/) [Explore all 121 Randall Jarrell quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randall-jarrell/) ## More Anachronism quotes > [When you stroll through Munich it can happen that you suddenly stand in front of an old house, an idyllically-dreaming church that smiles like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-goebbels/when-you-stroll-through-munich-it-can-happen-that-you-suddenly-stand/) [Joseph Goebbels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-goebbels/) > [The greatest temptation for the like of us is: to renounce violence, to repent, to make peace with oneself. Most revolutionaries fell before this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/the-greatest-temptation-for-the-like-of-us-is-to-renounce-violence-to/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [I call myself a gorgeous anachronism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jinkx-monsoon/i-call-myself-a-gorgeous-anachronism/) [Jinkx Monsoon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jinkx-monsoon/) > [The energy that actually shapes the world springs from emotions - racial pride, leader-worship, religious belief, love of war - which liberal intellectuals mechanically…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/the-energy-that-actually-shapes-the-world-springs-from-emotions/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“THE ALLIGATOR IS AN ANACHRONISM THAT CAN EAT YOU!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-russell/the-alligator-is-an-anachronism-that-can-eat-you/) [Karen Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-russell/) > [Reality is partial to symmetry and slight anachronisms](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jorge-luis-borges/reality-is-partial-to-symmetry-and-slight-anachronisms/) [Jorge Luis Borges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jorge-luis-borges/) > [Dignity is an anachronism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-glasgow/dignity-is-an-anachronism/) [Ellen Glasgow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-glasgow/) > [If I was a poet, I had become one because poetry, more intensely than any other practice, could not evade its anachronism and marginality…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-lerner/if-i-was-a-poet-i-had-become-one-because-poetry-more-intensely-than/) [Ben Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-lerner/) > [“The biggest anachronism, usually, in a historical movie is, again, the author doesn’t want to be thought to in any way share the social…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-e-woods-jr/the-biggest-anachronism-usually-in-a-historical-movie-is-again-the/) [Thomas E. Woods Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-e-woods-jr/) > [A linguist deaf to the poetic functions of language and a literary scholar indifferent to linguistics are equally flagrant anachronisms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roman-jakobson/a-linguist-deaf-to-the-poetic-functions-of-language-and-a-literary/) [Roman Jakobson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roman-jakobson/) > [Some of my favorite photos from the old days are of people who maybe didn't know how to smile. Maybe smiling in photos wasn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ransom-riggs/some-of-my-favorite-photos-from-the-old-days-are-of-people-who-maybe/) [Ransom Riggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ransom-riggs/) > [Thanks to the Polgars the adjective 'men's' before events and the 'affirmative action' women's titles such as Woman Grandmaster have become anachronisms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garry-kasparov/thanks-to-the-polgars-the-adjective-men-s-before-events-and-the/) [Garry Kasparov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garry-kasparov/) > [I wouldnt mind seeing opera die. Ever since I was a boy, I regarded opera as a ponderous anachronism, almost the equivalent of smoking.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-lloyd-wright/i-wouldnt-mind-seeing-opera-die-ever-since-i-was-a-boy-i-regarded/) [Frank Lloyd Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-lloyd-wright/) > [One already feels like an anachronism, writing novels in the age of what-ever-this-is-the-age-of, but touring to promote them feels doubly anachronistic. The marketplace is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lev-grossman/one-already-feels-like-an-anachronism-writing-novels-in-the-age-of/) [Lev Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lev-grossman/) > [Independent self-reliant people would be a counterproductive anachronism in the collective society of the future where people will be defined by their associations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/independent-self-reliant-people-would-be-a-counterproductive/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) [Browse all 51 Anachronism quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anachronism/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Anyone who has read Yeats's wonderful Autobiography will remember his Sligo shabby, shadowed, half country and half sea, full of confused romance, superstition, poverty, eccentricity, unrecognized anachronism, passion and ignorance and the little boy's misery. 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