He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven

He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven

Had I the heaven’s 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

I first heard this particular poem in a movie (Equilibrium, it’s a good movie you should see it). I didn’t think much about it at first, after searching for the DVD one night so a friend could borrow it, the poem came back to me. I only remembered the last line, so I went online to get the full poem and also to read more of Yeats’ poems since I’m on a classical literature binge at the moment.

This poem still stuck out in my head. I kept thinking about it and what it meant. I find a drawback to poetry for me is most of the time it sounds good but just doesn’t make any sense. So I was thinking about the poem and let my mind drift and found what it means to me. Basically Adeh who is the narrator of this poem wishes for they had the cloths of heaven and if they had it they would give it to you. But being poor all Adeh has is his dreams which he offers.

Now to translate that into what it actually means to me, I wish I had the world to give, especially to Mrs. Kimpak. But all I have are my hopes and dreams to share. Tread softly because to spurn this gift would be a grievous blow. The poem may mean other things to other people though, this is just my interpretation.

Mrs. Kimpak as most of you know makes quite a bit more than I do at her job; most of the time this does not bother me. I admit though, sometimes it does, only because sometimes I feel I’m not pulling my own weight, monetarily speaking. In reality I am, I know, but sometimes I just feel I’m not. Maybe I should go back to school and get my actual batcher’s degree? I’ve thought about it, but it’s a big commitment and I don’t know if I’d be able to pass the math classes, I’m terrible at it because I never really learned it in school, partially due to dyslexia and partially due to my own lack of careing.

But I digress, the blog is about the poem. What does it mean to you?