Some poetry books are really special, I have a lovely edition of W B Yeats early love poems, it is just one of those books where it is a pleasure to slowly leaf through each page and enjoy both the poems, the illustrations and the aesthetic look of the book itself as well the texture....
The early poems
of a poet to his beloved
on yellowed pages
imprints of two entwined
and a purple ribbon
placed on the page
of a memorable stanza
The song of wandering Aeungus
by W B Yeats
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 aflame,
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.
