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He Wishes for the cloths of Heaven is one of Ireland’s most popular poems. Here we read it to wonderful Celtic music and images of Ireland. plus photos of the author WB Yeats and the woman he wrote the poem for, Maud Gonne. We then explore its background and meaning, and how it was born out of W B Yeats’s unrequited love for Gonne, who was a famous, beautiful Irish actress. He wishes for the Cloths of Heaven 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. The poem is most famous for the memorable line, “tread softly because you tread on my dreams,” which is one of the most quoted phrases from all of Yeats’s work. Watch the video to hear the poem read together notes and analysis of it
