Everybody is desperate to find the “perfect one” some days. As for me, I solemnly wait until I am ready for a relationship – I am in no rush. Some individuals are more eager than others to find love, and they believe that’s the key to happiness. People try anything possibly to find love even if it’s throwing a penny down a wishing well. “Brown Penny” by William Bulter Yeats sets that example of finding love through repetition, metaphors, and shifts of the character’s dream. Time can be crucial for those who wait for so long.

The character is obviously searching for love but does not seem to have any luck. He tries to give out his reasons by saying, “I am too young” or “I am old enough.” Through his tone, he is lonely and desperate to find happiness. His result is throwing a “brown penny” [to a well]. The character uses “Ah, penny, brown penny, brown penny” twice as a sign of repetition which is symbolic to me. I used to act joyful whenever I saw a penny heads side up when I was littler because that meant good luck was coming my way. Yeats used the brown penny as a talisman for the character since he is hoping the penny will bring him some luck for his love life. It amazes me that some adults still rely a penny as good luck.

Besides his fate on the penny, he explains his feelings of being lonely and desperate through metaphors. A strong metaphor: “For he would be thinking of love till the stars had run away and the shadows eaten the moon.” This is a powerful metaphor because the character will think about love until the end of time. We all have watched romance movies, and always that one particular character who will go to the ends of the universe to keep his true love. This is how Yeats felt. Time and patience was crucial to him, but he still had the heart to find the woman of his dreams. That is a symbol of a true soul mate.

Yeats acted as a patient and determined man at times, but he had this attitude shift going on between the two stanzas. The first one summarized that he is willing and positive of finding the perfect lady. However, he becomes all depressed and loses hope for love in the second stanza. Going from “I am looped in the loops of her hair” to “O love is a crooked thing” is quite a shift. I have been in that position before where I was so excited for a family trip but till the last minute, we had to cancel. I was upset for a little while, but I managed to get back on my feet and hoped for another day. This is how Yeats should handle his situation: if it fails one day, don’t ever give up. Love is patient. Love is kind. Sometimes it takes time to create a masterpiece.

People still follow the saying, “a penny heads up will bring you good luck.” As a child, I did believe that. But no, I hope and pray for a plan or situation to flow perfectly. Time can be a crucial thing but sometimes time is the only answer. Searching for love is a difficult task, but one day it will tie up into a pretty, little bow on a present. A brown penny cannot perform that miracle worker.