In the Seven Woods

I have heard the pigeons of the Seven Woods
Make their faint thunder, and the garden bees
Hum in the lime-tree flowers; and put away
The unavailing outcries and the old bitterness
That empty the heart. I have forgot awhile
Tara uprooted, and new commonness
Upon the throne and crying about the streets
And hanging its paper flowers from post to post,
Because it is alone of all things happy.
I am contented, for I know that Quiet
Wanders laughing and eating her wild heart
Among pigeons and bees, while that Great Archer,
Who but awaits His hour to shoot, still hangs
A cloudy quiver over Pairc-na-lee.

William Butler Yeats
(13 June 1865 – 28 January 1939)

In celebration of William Butler Yeats, born 146 years ago, here is the lime tree of which he speaks:

Yeats's Lime Tree (wikipedia)

It is Tilia tomentosa, in the Family Malvaceae, which includes hibiscus, and mallow, and okra.

I know well the hum of bees among flowers, but the thought of the faint thunder of pigeons. . . wonderful!

About Mary

I spent a few years at sea, and I never came back from a cruise without having learned something new about the ocean or what lived in it. After retiring to Panama, I began to learn something new about the tropical savanna ecosystem nearly every day I stepped outside. I focused on plants, those marvelous signs of life. Now I'm in my second retirement, living in Sicily. I'm leaving my plant studies online for those who have found them useful.

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2 Responses to In the Seven Woods

taro says:

June 28, 2011 at 2:31 pm

Oh …i visited Yeats’s tomb (with the nice celtic cross at the entrance) at Drumcliff 3 years ago… wish i could be back to ireland one day… Around Drumcliff there’s also the Lissadel House with his gardens.. and just before if i’m not wong there’s an Alpine Garden, just in front to the sea… Been in ireland 3 times… but always too short for me…
And where’s that Tilia?

- Mary says:
  
  June 28, 2011 at 3:44 pm
  
  Hi Taro,
  
  Thanks for the description of the area around Yeats’s tomb. Your trips to Ireland sound wonderful, and I especially envy your visit to Drumcliffe. That Tilia photo appears in wikipedia and was taken at the Morton Arboretum in Lisle, Illinois. Now I feel like searching for a Tilia photo taken in Ireland, even at Drumcliffe.😉 I’ll update the post if I do find such a thing.
  
  Mary