The cloak, the boat and the shoes

What do you make so fair and bright?

’‘I make the cloak of Sorrow:

O lovely to see in all men’s sight

Shall be the cloak of Sorrow,

In all men’s sight.’

‘What do you build with sails for flight?

’‘I build a boat for Sorrow:

O swift on the seas all day and night

Saileth the rover Sorrow,

All day and night.

’What do you weave with wool so white?

’‘I weave the shoes of Sorrow:

Soundless shall be the footfall light

In all men’s ears of Sorrow,

Sudden and light.’

William Butler Yeats