The Song of Wandering Aengus

I went out to the hazel wood, Because a fire was in my head, And I cut and peeled a willow wand, And hooked a berry to a thread; And when white moths were on the wing, And moth-like stars were flickering out, I dropped my berry in a stream And caught a little silver trout.

When I had laid it on the grass, And it was caught, I knew not why, I found there was a fire in me, And I looked back at my past end, And the wild path I made to see.

But I learned the pain you called desire, And the coldness in my fishing net Gave me no warmth to ease the fire That roamed with me a shadowed yet.

Lament of cold embraces hold, I would possess the invisible day, So caught I was in all dreams dew,
I never caught the burning way.

• William Butler Yeats