Unrequited Love
Camille Pissarro, Poplars, Eragny
The Song of Wandering Aengus
by William Butler Yeats
Unrequited Love
Who has not reached for an irresistible and elusive object of desire?
A golden possession? An award? Or, most heart-rending, a person.
William Butler Yeats offers us a vision of tenacious allure and pursuit.
Quite by surprise, Aengus catches a fish that becomes”a glittering girl”. The Celtic origin of the name Aengus means “one choice”. Indeed, the captive of allurement is propelled forward in quest of the only thing to satisfy a soul-deep desire that displaces physical hunger. Sound familiar? Someone, somewhere is riding a bus at the same time every day, to catch sight again of their own glimmering person. Aengus submits to that craving for a lifetime. “I will find out where she has gone,” he says, imagining how he will in time embrace her. And if not, he will pluck, until his days are done, “the silver apples of the moon, the golden apples of the sun.” Unrequited love gives his life meaning. However, the story of Aengus poses some important questions. What if he lets go the supernatural, and allows himself to look for more earthly meanings? What about those apples? Do they represent opportunities to restore his appetite for natural life? This could be the story of a grand ambition that calls the dreamer to reckon with two choices: “grit” or “quit”. Or there could be another choice, only one choice for self-realization and well-being.
How can you tell the difference between being in love with love, and being in love with a real person?
