This is a widely-known and heavily-quoted poem, which for me is usually the mark of lesser quality. But this I can't help but appreciate because of its blunt, insightful request. It is simple, but it is something every person feels. For that reason it is worthy of recognition. This poem also reminds me of the dilemmas of twenty-something friends who are striving to realize their dreams and communicate them to others. "Tread softly," we ask. "Our dreams are very close to us now; please, tread softly."
Some of the records I've found of this poem list the title as "Aedh Wishes For the Cloths of Heaven." I'm finding conflicting opinions on who Aedh is, from a Celtic god to a Scottish king.
He Wishes For the Cloths of Heaven
by William Butler Yeats
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.
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