Writers Block?

The Circus Animals' Desertion – W.B Yeats

I
I sought a theme and sought for it in vain,
I sought it daily for six weeks or so.
Maybe at last, being but a broken man,
I must be satisfied with my heart, although
Winter and summer till old age beganMy circus animals were all on show,
Those stilted boys, that burnished chariot,
Lion and woman and the Lord knows what.

II
What can I but enumerate old themes,
First that sea-rider Oisin led by the nose
Through three enchanted islands, allegorical dreams,
Vain gaiety, vain battle, vain reply,
Themes of the embittered heart, or so it seems,
That might adorn old songs or courtly shows;
But what cared I that set him on to ride,
I, starved for the bosom of his faery bride.

And then a counter-truth filled out its play,
'The Countess Cathleen' was the name I gave it;
She, pity-crazed, had given her soul away,
But masterful Heaven had intervened to save it.
I thought my dear must her own soul destroy
So did fanaticism and hate enslave it,
And this brought forth a dream and soon enough
This dream itself had all my thought and love.

And when the Fool and Blind Man stole the bread
Cuchulain fought the ungovernable sea;
Heart-mysteries there, and yet when all is said
It was the dream itself enchanted me:
Character isolated by a deed
To engross the present and dominate memory.
Players and painted stage took all my love,
And not those things that they were emblems of.

III
Those masterful images because complete
Grew in pure mind, but out of what began?
A mound of refuse or the sweepings of a street,
Old kettles, old bottles, and a broken can,
Old iron, old bones, old rags, that raving slut
Who keeps the till. Now that my ladder's gone,
I must lie down where all the ladders start
In the foul rag and bone shop of the heart.

Stuck for ideas about writing a poem? How about writing a poem about being unable to write?
In ‘The Circus Animals’ Desertion’ Yeats is unable to find a theme for a poem (I sought a theme and sought for it in vain) and feels like a failure (Maybe at last, being but a broken man,) even though he can clearly see the success he has garnered for himself from such humble beginnings.
In search of this theme he casts himself back, remembering three of his great works and how he came to love and nurture them. The first great work mentioned ‘The Wanderings of Oisin’ features a gallant warrior (Oisin) and details his adventure in three mystical islands of Gaiety, Victory, and Forgetfulness. This is important to the poem as it is also used as a metaphor for Yeats’ career in general. The second great work ‘The Countess Cathleen’ was a play about a kindly lady selling her soul to save her fellow people. He says he was inspired by fanaticism and anger to write the poem. It was his first successful play and one of the most enjoyable, (Island of Gaiety). This was followed by ‘The Wanderings of Oisin’ on of his most popular (Island of Victory). The third and final great work mentioned is ‘On Baile’s Strand’, he mentions that he lost his way and ‘sold out’ almost (Players and painted stage took all my love, And not those things that they were emblems of) he had forgotten where he had come from and what he had set out to do (Island of forgetfulness).
In his third section he talks about starting again out of humble beginnings or ‘tearing down his ladder’ (Now that my ladder’s gone, I must lie down where all ladders start).

For anyone following our ‘How to Analyse Poetry’ entries this ‘mini-analysis’ covers what I think the poem is saying and to some degree how effective it is, by using quotes and explaining them in more depth I have been able to explain to the reader my thoughts on the poem better. I have not, however, included the form of the peom or mentioned any in depth elements .