Mythology & Folklore

A Cradle Song

by W. B. Yeats 1865–1939

From The Wind Among the Reeds (1899)

Mythology & Folklore

The Danann children laugh, in cradles of wrought gold,
And clap their hands together, and half close their eyes,
For they will ride the North when the ger-eagle flies,
With heavy whitening wings, and a heart fallen cold:
I kiss my wailing child and press it to my breast,
And hear the narrow graves calling my child and me.
Desolate winds that cry over the wandering sea;
Desolate winds that hover in the flaming West;
Desolate winds that beat the doors of Heaven, and beat
The doors of Hell and blow there many a whimpering ghost;
O heart the winds have shaken; the unappeasable host
Is comelier than candles before Maurya's feet.

MLA

Yeats, W. B. “A Cradle Song.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/yeats/185/.

Chicago

Yeats, W. B. “A Cradle Song.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/yeats/185/.

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