Wandering Aengus

I went out to the Hazel wood
Because a fire was in my head

W B Yeats


Here is a large project nested into a larger project, both of which
I've been working on for some time ~ the larger project being a little
temple I've been building at beautiful Rennaldburn where I live.

It's called Altair air Abhainn (pronounced altair ar aveyn),
Gaelic for Alter at the stream, since it overlooks the upper
reaches of the burn that gives Rennaldburn its name.

Two of Altair's sides are made from big bay windows, and I decided to cast
glass panels for them. Loving Yeats's poem, 'The Song of Wandering Aengus',
I chose to use one of the bay windows as a canvas for its illustration.

As is the nature of open-cast glass, while some casts completely break apart after one
casting, others survive more intact and can be used for another piece. This means I can create
limited editions as I work…and you can share in the homecoming of Wandering Aengus :)


Here is Yeats's poem in full:

I went out to the hazel wood,
Because a fire was in my head,
And cut and peeled a hazel 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 the berry in a stream
And caught a little silver trout.

When I had laid it on the floor
I went to blow the fire a-flame,
But something rustled on the floor,
And someone called me by my name:
It had become a glimmering girl
With apple blossom in her hair
Who called me by my name and ran
And faded through the brightening air.

Though I am old with wandering
Through hollow lands and hilly lands,
I will find out where she has gone,
And kiss her lips and take her hands;
And walk among long dappled grass,
And pluck till time and times are done,
The silver apples of the moon,
The golden apples of the sun.