(13 June 1865 – 28 January 1939 / County Dublin / Ireland)

poet William Butler Yeats
#15 on top 500 poets
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Aedh Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven

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.

Submitted: Friday, January 03, 2003


Read poems about / on: silver, light, dark, night, heaven, dream

Comments about this poem (Aedh Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven by William Butler Yeats )

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  • Eithne Queen of Celts (10/18/2010 6:45:00 AM)

    Honest, sensitive, truly delightful. Where have genuine poets gone? ...

    1 person liked.
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  • Andrew Hoellering (12/18/2009 7:18:00 AM)

    I'll have a shot, Michael, at commenting on this wonderful poem.
    Aedh (i.e. Yeats) is looking for an image of maximum beauty to describe the gift he wishes to give to his beloved. Yeats creates this gift through his superb poetic use of language to make a priceless imaginary object, the cloth, which also stands for Aedh’s dreams.
    The irony is that the embroidered cloths already exist in the sky above the lovers, and therefore could be shared. What is imaginary is the way they are described, and it only needs a Cyrano de Bergerac, with his gift for poetic speech, to point out their beauty as the couple gaze upwards together.

    0 person liked.
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  • Natalie Sorokin (12/6/2008 3:31:00 AM)

    I love this poem! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Somebody watched the movie 'Equilibrium'? The first time I heard the words of poem from there and fall in love.......He is amazing poet!

    2 person liked.
    		0 person did not like.
  • Michael Breheny (8/15/2006 10:22:00 AM)

    hiya all, just new too this site but i have always loved this poem, will someone take the time to explain its meaning so i can enjoy it even more, thanks

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  • Colleen Watt (2/6/2006 6:42:00 PM)

    This is pne of my all time favourites, a proper poem

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