Interesting Possibilities
(After The Mask: W.B. Yeats)
i.
You are attracted, suddenly, by face
Or form, or voice; a presence which exerts,
On your stirred faculties, a sense of grace
And interesting possibilities.
So you approach the source, (like magnet-trapped
Small particles of ferrous-mixtured cherts),
And probe to test the personality
Lying beneath exteriorities.
But aught you look behind that charming mask
To analyse the hidden mystery?.
Or should you be contented just to bask
In that hypnotic aura, strangely rapt?.
Might not deep scrutiny detect defective traits
To break your hope-cracked heart with disillusioned days?.
ii.
What use to anyone are outward shows
Of interesting possibilities,
If they are not to be explored in full?.
Suppose, behind that fascinating gel
There grins an empty skull, devoid of brain;
Or these attractive mannerisms hide
A shrivelled, or robotic, heart unmoved
By finest of life’s sensibilities?.
Should such a creature, then, be left unloved,
However bright its superficial glows?.
Could fascination still contain its pull
When centred on a vacant, useless shell?.
Only through active interaction may we gain
Fulfilment of our hopes; not through a Barmecide.
