He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven by William Butler Yeats: Summary and Critical Analysis

If the poet had the beautifully decorated cloths of heaven made with golden, silver and dark light he would spread them under his beloved’s path. But he is poor and can’t give her beautiful cloths. He can give her only his dreams. Therefore he has spread his dreams on her way. And he requests her to walk softly because his dreams may be broken easily. The poet wishes he had the cloths of heaven.

He would decorate them with golden and silver light. He would change night and the light and the half-light into blue, din, and dark color for her cloths. And he would spread the cloths on her way. But he has only his dreams, so he requests her to tread softly on his fragile dreams. This poem can be divided into three parts: the wish, the offer and the request.

This short, love, lyric poem “He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven” composed by the well known Irish poet W. B. Yeats has expressed his personal feeling for his beloved Maud Gonne. The poet himself is identified as the main character in the poem. Here he says that if he had some fine cloths of gold and silver embellished with fine colors, he would spread them on the ground where his beloved would walk. But because of his poverty, he could not afford such heavenly comfort to her. Therefore he requests her to accept only his dreams that he has to offer her. He further warns her to step in his dreams softly because his dreams are softer and fragile (delicate) than heavenly clothes.

The poem can be divided into three parts: the wish, the offer, and the request if we have close observation to the poem. The first five lines of the poem “Had I…..your feet; can be counted as the wish of the poet. Here the poet wishes he had the cloths of heaven. He would decorate them with golden and silver light. He would change night and the light and the half-light in blue, dim and dark colors for her clothes. And he would spread the cloths on her way. Sixth and seventh line of the poem; But I…. Your feet; can be taken as an offer made by the poet to his beloved. He offers his sweet and tender dreams under her feet, since he is a poor man. The final line of the poem; Tread…. dreams; can be taken as a humble request to put her feet on his dreams as they are equally good as heavens’ embellished cloths. He warns her to be careful while walking because his dreams are more fragile than heavenly cloths.

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Sharma, K.N. "He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven by William Butler Yeats: Summary and Critical Analysis." BachelorandMaster, 23 Nov. 2013, bachelorandmaster.com/britishandamericanpoetry/wishes-for-heaven-cloths.html.