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 farthest 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;
We give them evil dreams,
Leaning softly out
From ferns that drop their tears
Of dew on the young streams.
Come! 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.
Away with us, he's going,
The solemn-eyed;
He'll hear no more the lowing
Of the calves on the warm hill-side.
Or the kettle on the hob
Sing peace into his breast;
Or see the brown mice bob
Round and round the oatmeal chest.
For he comes, the human child,
To the waters and the wild,
With a faery hand in hand,
For the world's more full of weeping than
he can understand.
Initially home schooled, Yeats attended the Godolphin primary school in London begining in 1877 when he was 11
years old. An early school report describes his performance as "only fair. Perhaps better in Latin than in any other subject. Very poor in spelling."
Of Sleuth Wood in the lake,
