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The Stolen Child


WHERE dips the rocky highland
Of Sleuth Wood in the lake,
There lies a leafy island
Where flapping herons wake
The drowsy water-rats;
There we've hid our faery vats,
Full of berries
And of reddest stolen cherries.
Come away, O human child!
To the waters and the wild
With a faery, hand in hand,
For the world's more full of weeping than you
can understand.

Where the wave of moonlight glosses
The dim grey sands with light,
Far off by furthest Rosses
We foot it all the night,
Weaving olden dances,
Mingling hands and mingling glances
Till the moon has taken flight;
To and fro we leap
And chase the frothy bubbles,
While the world is full of troubles
And is anxious in its sleep.
Come away, O human child!
To the waters and the wild
With a faery, hand in hand,
For the world's more full of weeping than you
can understand.

Where the wandering water gushes
From the hills above Glen-Car,.
In pools among the rushes
That scarce could bathe a star,
We seek for slumbering trout
And whispering in their ears
Give them unquiet dreams;
Leaning softly out
From ferns that drop their tears
Over the young streams.
Come away, O human child!
To to waters and the wild
With a faery, hand in hand,
For to world's more full of weeping than you
can understand.

Away with us he's going,
The solemn-eyed:
He'll hear no more the lowing
Of the calves on the warm hillside
Or the kettle on the hob
Sing peace into his breast,
Or see the brown mice bob
Round and round the oatmeal-chest.
For be comes, the human child,
To the waters and the wild
With a faery, hand in hand,
from a world more full of weeping than you
can understand.

Notes

First published December 1886 in the Irish Monthly.

Furthest Rosses near Sligo is famous for it's Fairies.

There is here a little point of rocks where, if anyone should fall to sleep, there is danger of them waking silly, the fairies having carried off their souls. (Fairy and Folktales of the Irish Peasentry 1888)

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Comments

1 - 18 of 18
  • Morag
    April 3
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    This poem has always felt like a tragedy to me. The human world is full of weeping, but it also contains the child's family and homely, familiar things. The faery world is beautiful, but I always wished the child would escape and stay at home.
    Yeats wrote a play about a young bride being stolen by fairies which was written from the human point of view (unlike this one), and is definitely a tragedy.
    There seem to be a lot of variants of Yeats's poems. He must have done a lot of revising.

    • bearr48
      April 21
      Edit | Reply

      And yet....

      Our world is so full of suffering, and loss, and regret....isn't it tempting to opt out for a different world, where such things don't exist?

      • Morag
        May 17
        Edit | Reply

        True, but...

        It's OK to take a bit of time out in a fantasy world, and we all need that, but to stay there all the time we would have to cease to be human.
        Do you notice that the last verse doesn't even mention the child's family? Do you think this is because this would make it seem too obviously a tragedy for the child to go with the fairies, or because the fairies aren't capable of understanding emotional ties?


  • Elinor
    March 10, 2007

    Edit | Reply
    For be comes, the human child,
    To the waters and the wild

    I don't think the poem is about a real child, but the child that lives within every one of us (hopefully) even when we are not children any more. We need to escape into a faeryland of our own every now and then.

    There is a question I have, I am not sure if anyone can answer it.
    The first version I read ( I cannot remember where) had
    "For the world's more full of weeping than he can understand."
    as the last line of the poem. Was that just a misprint, or did Yeats himself change it?

  • Lady Bird
    January 12, 2005
    Edit | Reply
    "For the world's more full of weeping than you can understand."

    To me, this line is a beautiful description of the innocence of a child. The whole poem has an interesting quality to it...a fascinating story told in a lovely poem.

    I love the repeating part in italics. It works the way a chorus would in a song, and adds a smooth, musical feel to the poem.

    The imagery in this is glorious, wonderfully describing everything. There is a peaceful, almost magical feeling to this poem that really touches my heart. I love this

  • OnTheEdGe
    May 24, 2004
    Edit | Reply
    i read this before but this is great!! thank you so much for sharing!

  • Delwyn
    May 24, 2004
    Edit | Reply
    This also is one of my favourite pieces by Yeats as it provides not only a strong series of images but a pointed tale as well. Not only that, I find there is a magical element to it and I'm not one who's not yet heard Loreena McKennitt's version of the poem.

  • Dorkette2
    May 24, 2004
    Edit | Reply
    this is great, i love all kind of Irish stuff and fairies and things, i have allways wanted to go to Ireland i am part Irish and proud of it.this is amazing!!
    Brooke


  • AndrewHide
    May 24, 2004
    Edit | Reply
    Mek,
    The line, For the world's more full of weeping than you can understand. Is saying that as a child you can not conceive the sadness which is in the world, and offers an escape into fairyland.

    Andrew


  • April 15, 2004
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    can some one explain the line For the world's more full of weeping than you can understand.


  • February 12, 2004
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    A great poem

    Morgaine is right. Loreena McKennitt's version is amazing. She put Yeats's immortal poem to music and it brings a new life to the poem. The harp is the main instrument and this breathes a mythical vitality to the poem. The poem now exudes a life of its own even if it is a wistful one.


  • October 16, 2003
    Edit | Reply
    If you really like this poem, you should hear it sung, Loreena McKemmit does a great job! When I was a child it was my favorite, I would sing it over and over when I was upset, like maybe the Fairies would hear me and take me away.


  • AndrewHide
    September 2, 2003
    Edit | Reply
    Hello John, you sure know how to set a task.
    I think I have found a copy of the painting you mention:-
    John Butler Yeats RHA (1839-1922) ILLUSTRATION TO A FAIRY TALE, circa 1886-1887 signed with initials lower right; inscribed on reverse watercolour heightened with white 44 by 27cm., 17.5 by 10.5in Provenance: Purchased from the artist by a friend of the Yeats family; by whom given in 1936 to Mrs Buckley, Sandymount, Dublin; thence to her daughter Enid, by whom given in 1994 to the present owner.

    There does not appear to be any reference to either one being the inspiration to the other, but seeing the close proximity of the creation of both pieces, it does leave you wondering.
    I have contacted the Yeats society in Co Sligo with your question and await any light they can shed.

    Andrew


  • September 1, 2003
    Edit | Reply
    WBY's father has a painting completed circa 1886/7 and its called "Illustration to a fairytale" .... is there any link to the poem? .... its a girl in the painting surrounded by fairies

  • TanyaB
    July 24, 2003
    Edit | Reply
    thanks for posting this piece, i dont believe i've read any of Yeats poetry before.

  • SweetSurrender
    July 24, 2003
    Edit | Reply

    ::applause::

    I really loved this piece, mostly because I am Irish and I have a fascination for faeries and moonlight :-P

    I especially liked these lines:

    Where the wave of moonlight glosses
    The dim grey sands with light,
    Far off by furthest Rosses
    We foot it all the night,
    Weaving olden dances,
    Mingling hands and mingling glances
    Till the moon has taken flight;
    To and fro we leap
    And chase the frothy bubbles,
    While the world is full of troubles

    Very lyrical and beautiful.


  • AndrewHide
    July 22, 2003
    Edit | Reply
    This is one of the most smoothest lyrical pieces I've ever read and I'm sure it would appeal to both adult and child alike.

    Come away, O human child!
    To the waters and the wild
    With a faery, hand in hand,
    For the world's more full of weeping than you
    can understand.

    Andrew


  • October 20, 2001
    Edit | Reply
    Having lived in this part the world that features so much in Yeat's poetry, I can relate to most of his work, but I think this is my favourite.

1 - 18 of 18