sentences:  The poem was first published in Edith Wharton's "The Book of the Homeless" in 1916 as "A Reason for Keeping Silent".When it was later reprinted in "The Wild Swans at Coole", the title was changed to "On being asked for a War Poem".When Henry James asked Yeats to submit a poem for publication in Wharton's collection which was intended to raise money for Belgium refugees, Yeats intended for the poem to state his political position on the "European War".