Where dips the rocky highland Of Sleuth Wood in the lake, There lies a leafy island Where flapping herons wake The drowsy water rats; There we've hid our faery vats, Full of berries And of reddest stolen cherries. Come away, O human child! To the waters and the wild With a faery, hand in hand, For the world's more full of weeping than you can understand.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Yeats invites a child to leave the human world for a faery realm because human life is full of sorrow the is hard to comprehend.
- In plain terms
- Come with me to nature and magic instead of staying here where there is too much sadness.
- What can you take from it?
- Escape to wonder when the world feels too heavy.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- What does you need to leave behind to find peace?
- Is the natural world truly free of suffering?
Another view
It romanticizes escaping reality rather than addressing its root causes.
More from William Butler Yeats
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