He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven, by Yeats
He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven, by Yeats
Had I the heavens’ embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half-light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.
— W.B. Yeats
This is another of my grandad’s favourites. I love the imagery of the night sky as a cloth that could be picked and pulled away, if you could only reach high enough. There’s something very relaxing about lying back and looking up on a clear night to let your eyes adjust.
Most of my fondest stargazing memories are either from home, peering through a telescope with Dad, or on Coll, which has dark sky status. My first time there was also the first time I’d ever seen the Milky Way, and there were so many stars I could barely make out the constellations I was used to!
I enjoy the romantic overtones of this piece – there’s something very sweet about the transition from the stars in the night sky, which are the same for everyone (give or take), to the cloths of the speaker’s dreams, which only the person addressed will ever know.
Featured Image: the Milky Way on Coll, visible to my phone camera even though it’s far from new. Rest assured it was even more brilliant in person. Photo may or may not have been taken shortly before I stepped off the road into a boggy ditch (cannot verify either way).
TJC 