Yeats

A bit on butchgirlcat's engaging meme blog reminded me of how much I love Yeats, and unlike Leo, I read a lot of poetry. Here's a poem that's a favorite:

He 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 half-light,
I would spread these 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.

William Butler Yeats, 1899

Poetry is my solace, my joy, my life blood. I started reading Yeats in high school, after a girl I had a mad crush on started reciting him to me (sigh, what a crush!). The girl disappeared from my life but poetry and Yeats remained.

One thing I especially love in this Yeats poem, besides the wonderful music of it, is that beautiful triplet pair: "blue, dim, dark" that is followed by "night, light, half-light". It's a marvelous poem to recite because of the consonant sounds and the pacing. It's also a good way to impress a girl, apparently (worked on me!), you should try it with a poem you love, and a girl you (want to) love.

There are few things as surprising and delightful, in my view, than to hear someone, unbidden, reciting a poem simply for the love of the poem and maybe for the love of you. My dear mother used to recite poems while she hung up the laundry, clothes pins in hands, warm sun, and a gentle wind flapping at the sheets. Perhaps this is where I learned to love the music of words.