Today I offer you Song of the Wandering Aengus by William
Butler Yeats, a photo of one of my paintings inspired by the poem, and a few thoughts about the poem.
Song of the Wandering Aengus
I went out to the hazel wood,
Because a fire was in my head,
And cut and peeled a hazel wand,
And hooked a berry to a thread;
And when white moths were on the wing,
And moth-like stars were flickering out,
I dropped the berry in a stream
And caught a little silver trout.
When I had laid it on the floor
I went to blow the fire a-flame,
But something rustled on the floor,
And someone called me by my name:
It had become a glimmering girl
With apple blossom in her hair
Who called me by my name and ran
And faded through the brightening air.
Though I am old with wandering
Through hollow lands and hilly lands,
I will find out where she has gone,
And kiss her lips and take her hands;
And walk among long dappled grass,
And pluck till time and times are done,
The silver apples of the moon,
The golden apples of the sun.
-William Butler Yeats
Yeats is answering the universal question, “What is the meaning of life?” Wandering Aengus is Everyman. He has a burning search in his head for knowledge, so he fishes. His catch turns into something much more beautiful than at first glance. But it vanishes. Knowing life contains something beautiful, he then spends the rest of his life trying to reclaim it, and realizing that it is through the journey that he will taste:
The silver apples of the moon,
The golden apples of the sun.
CPW
P.S.
When the Mind is absorbed by Beauty,
The Soul is at Peace.
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