The Shadowy Waters: the Harp of Aengus
The Shadowy Waters: the Harp of Aengus - context Summary
Published in 1899 Collection
Part of Yeats's 1899 collection The Wind Among the Reeds, The Harp of Aengus retells a moment from Irish myth: Aengus fashions a harp from his lover's hair after she is transformed, binding personal grief to music and the supernatural. The poem exemplifies Yeats's late-19th-century interest in Celtic folklore, symbolic imagery, and poetic music, framing love, loss, and artistic creation within a timeless, mythic atmosphere.
Read Complete AnalysesEdain came out of Midhir's hill, and lay Beside young Aengus in his tower of glass, Where time is drowned in odour-laden winds And Druid moons, and murmuring of boughs, And sleepy boughs, and boughs where apples made Of opal and ruhy and pale chrysolite Awake unsleeping fires; and wove seven strings, Sweet with all music, out of his long hair, Because her hands had been made wild by love. When Midhir's wife had changed her to a fly, He made a harp with Druid apple-wood That she among her winds might know he wept; And from that hour he has watched over none But faithful lovers.
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