He Wishes For The Cloths Of Heaven Analysis

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.

.: My analysis :.

Before I begin with my analysis, I'd like to point out that this is my first attempt at poetical analysis - so don't judge me too harshly.

The subject of the poem is fairly clear to almost all who read it. The narrator is telling his love that he -- there is no gender attached to the poem's narrator, but since the author is Yeats I will refer to the narrator as a male -- would give them anything and although the return of her affection is implied, it isn't stated; which to me makes Yeats's affection appear pure in intention. I also believe not only is he showing her what beauty he’d offer her if he could; he is also, as line five indirectly indicates to, is comparing her to all this beauty.

The first-half of the poem is full of intense, wonderful images. Describing how Yeats himself views the heavens (The sky and everything above it, as opposed to The Heaven.)
The first line I feel could be translated as: "Had I the material that the heavens are constructed with." Suggesting the heavens were carefully crafted with these beautiful cloths, with the intense passion of a 'skilled-needleworker.'
The next line adds to this theme of the heavens being carefully crafted (Enwought), and like an artist he splashed hints of colour in our minds; namely gold (a sunset and the sun itself) and silver (a wonderful overcast sky and the stars.)
The next two lines allude to the differing appearance of the heavens throughout the day. Also suggesting when he would give her the heavens' cloths, he doesn't mean just a moment, but the heavens in their eternal entirety.
The third line paints the colours of midday - 'The blue,' of early morning or late afternoon - 'the dim,' and evening - 'the dark cloths.'
The fourth line wonderfully shades the scene with the light-intensity from the three periods of the heavens, which he describes in the previous line. Interestingly he has mixed up the order of these three periods, once again alluding to the idea of embroidery and also a majestic synthesis of these periods and their colours.

The second-half of the poem begins to address the woman of his affections, perhaps Maud Gonne.
He begins, I feel, quite powerfully. "I would spread the cloths under your feet," considering what he described in the first-half of the poem, a wonderful image of Yeats gracefully pulling the entire heavens' down and laying them beneath her feet is created. Also the use of the verb spread indicates how carefully he would lay them beneath her feet, just as carefully as they where created. I think this is indirectly comparing her beauty to that of all the heavens’ beauty.
The next line is a sudden drop from all this embroidered imagery and we are almost slapped with reality. Which is not in the least bit awful as the sincerity of his affections appear more genuine and therefore I feel a lot more powerful. The opening “But I, being poor,” I do not think he means poor in the monetary sense; rather it is an honest admission that he does not posses the heavens and is unable to give them to her. Instead he offers her his dreams. The beauty of Yeats’s description of the heavens is almost dream-like suggesting that while he can’t offer the physical heavens, he can offer the heavens of his dreams, the heavens he has just described to her. Also to add to the intensity of his offer is the fact that dreams are an extremely personal thing, and in a philosophical sense he alludes to the idea that all he is is his dreams; therefore he is offering his whole-self to her.
The next line is almost a refrain of the fifth, with two major differences. The cloths have, not would be, been replaced with my dreams. This change amplifies the idea that what he offers her isn’t anything material and tangible, but he has given his dreams, himself, something intangible and all the more precious because of this.
The final line is both a command and a declaration Yeats gives to his love. At the beginning of this line, “Tread softly” he tells her to treat his affections and himself with care and caution. Then the final part of the line tells her why, “for you tread on my dreams.” He tells her how vulnerable he is to her, how easily she could break his dreams and Yeats himself, if she treats his affections with anything but care and caution.

Finally I would like to talk about the construction of the poem itself. Firstly I will give my interpretation of the metre of this poem. Overall I would consider it to be Iambic-tetrametre, although the feet are also comprised of Anapaests, trochees, pyrrhi, spondees and even crectics. I will use the / symbol for stressed and x for unstressed syllables.

/x | x/ | xx/ | x/
x/ | x/ | xx/ | x/
x/ | xx/ | xx | //
x/ | x/ | xx | //
xx/ | x/ | x/| x/
/x | /x | /x/ | xx/
x/ | /x/ | /x | x/
/x | /x | x/ | xx/

Notice how lines 1&2 (Iamb), 3&4 (Spondee), 5&7(Iamb) and 6&8(Anapaest) all end with the same feet. This, I feel, adds to the cohesion of the poem and its ideas. Lines 1&2 are about the creation of the heavens’ cloths.
Lines 3&4 are describing the heavens’ cloths and alluding to the ideas that he means them in their eternal entirety.
Lines 5&6 are the most effective use of this, I feel, as they also use the same refrain-rhyme and it really forces the reader to compare what he could offer, what he thinks she would consider valuable and what he really can offer, which is brought across to be more valuable as it is intangible and therefore priceless. Also the way the feet are organised ties the verb spread to different things. Line five spread is in an anapaest, “I would spread.” In line seven however spread is in a cretic, “spread my dreams” now Yeats hits home what he is spreading. This really stands out when you read the poem and the reader knows exactly what is being spread.
The other cretic in the poem is wonderfully placed as well, also making those words stand out; “being poor” this cretic is important as it is the pivot between Yeats’s embroidered view of the heavens and what he would give, and how passionately he loves the woman.
There is so much more I could write about this poem but I feel this says enough for one sitting. As I come to the end of this analysis I feel a lot closer and connected to this beautiful poem. I also now feel that in the first-half of the poem Yeats is describing, not just the heavens themselves, but the object of his affection. I think this poem is incredibly rich in imagery, passion and beauty. The extreme vulnerability Yeats shows in the last line is an amazing end. It is almost as if when he shows us his vulnerability he is letting the woman now that he is now naked (truthful and pure) before her.


| Posted on 2007-09-30 | by a guest

.: :.

I have always wrote and loved poetry and know that one persons interpretation of another's poems is rarly the same as the next. However in my humble opinion I feel this poem is about a man wanting to offer the person of his affection the heavens here on earth. I think that maybe the referrence to light is meant as how he desperatly wants to brighten up this persons world.He wants to put heaven under there feet and let them never walk in the pain of darkness again. Unfortunatly though he is a poor man and only has hes dreams which I think he is promising to give to his love.He wants to give his love everything and everything he has is his dreams.He is asking his love to tread softly on them as they are all he has and all he has to offer.

| Posted on 2007-01-20 | by a guest