Aedh Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven / Yeats

"Aedh Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven" is a poem by William Butler Yeats. It was published in 1899 in his third volume of poetry, The Wind Among the Reeds.

Commentary
The speaker of the poem is the character Aedh, who appears in Yeats's work alongside two other archetypal characters of the poet's myth: Michael Robartes and Red Hanrahan. The three are collectively known as the principles of the mind. Whereas Robartes is intellectually powerful and Hanrahan represents Romantic primitivism, Aedh is pale, lovelorn, and in the thrall of La belle dame sans merci. (The character 'Aedh' is replaced in volumes of Yeats's collected poetry by a more generic 'he.')

Allusions
The poem was used in both the films Equilibrium and 84 Charing Cross Road. In Flagrante a photographic book by Chris Killip opens with the poem. John Irving uses the poem in the book A Widow for One Year.

Text
Had I the heavens’ 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.

Musical settings
The poem has been set to music by composer Z. Randall Stroope. SATB (45-21062) and TTBB (48-96760) arrangements are available from Colla Voce Music.

A slightly modified version of the poem also appears on the 1991 album "Spin" by Dave Stewart and Barbara Gaskin (Rykodisc RCD 20213 / MIDI Records(1991).

A setting of this poem is featured on Dancing In The Wind, a set of W.B. Yeats poems set to songs and harp music by Claire Roche.