Vice President Biden took time during his speech at the Port of Houston Monday to compare America to Ireland during the Irish rebellion for independence of 1916.
"There’s a line from a poem called "Easter Sunday 1916" were William Butler Yeats is describing his Ireland in that era," Biden said. "But I think the line better fits America and the world today than it did 1916 Ireland. It says, "All’s changed, changed utterly. A terrible beauty has been born."
The Easter Rising, which lasted six days in then-British controlled Ireland in 1916, left over 400 dead and 2,500 wounded, a majority of which were civilians.
Below is a transcript of the remarks:
JOE BIDEN: Jonny will tell you my colleagues in the Senate used to always kid me because I was always quoting Irish poets. They think I quote Irish poets because I’m Irish; that’s not why. I quote them because they’re the best poets. That’s the reason I quote them. There’s a line from a poem called "Easter Sunday 1916" were William Butler Yeats is describing his Ireland in that era. But I think the line better fits America and the world today than it did 1916 Ireland. It says, "All’s changed, changed utterly. A terrible beauty has been born."