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.
(W.B. Yeats, The Stolen Child)
I think of my wild wisp of a brown boy who seems half faery himself... I think of his 20 freckles (seven on the back of his neck, four on his nose, three on his forehead, two on each cheek, one on his right shoulder, another on his knee -- and sometimes before bed, I must kiss each freckle goodnight...)
I think of my jolly plump elf of a baby... Bright-eyed and pink cheeked toddling around the house meowing to the cat...
And the refrain from this poem breaks my heart...
I still remember the day one of my big girl's freckles appeared;soft pink skin one day, soft pink skin with a little brown fleck the next..
ReplyDeleteOh Yeats...you slay me. And so do my boy's freckles and the wee elf child I hope to have one day. Hugs to you.
ReplyDeleteOh I love (and find terribly sad) this verse too...
ReplyDeleteWow! I didn't see this post! I participated in a poetry night last weekend and recited the Stolen Child...yes, recited it. Sang a few verses too...the Waterboys, as well as Loreena McKennitt, have both put it to music. It's one of the most magical poems ever written...and my personal favourite! My son would be very susceptible to being stolen away to the waters and the wild. He is, indeed, solemn-eyed.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful and heartbreaking in equal measure.
ReplyDelete