Tread Softly Because You Tread On My Dreams

In the village of Drumcliffe, County Sligo, lies the final resting place of one of the worlds most beloved modern poets, William Butler Yeats.

Not far from his grave this memorial to his work celebrates the poet, his work and my favorite poem 'He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven'.

This sculpture created by artist Jackie McKenna depicts a man standing on the very words written by Yeats. Here are those words.


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 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.

William Butler Yeats


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Tread Softly Because You Tread On My Dreams', 1/640 f/4.0 ISO160 105mm