The Magic of Childhood Memories

"The Cliffs of Insanity"... oh wait, I mean The Cliffs of Moher. How does one even go about describing the beauty of this location and the feelings that go along with it? 

I have recently read the poem, The Stolen Child by W. B. Yeats. In this poem he speaks of a paradise and escape from a world "more full of weeping than you can understand". In the fairy world depicted in the poem, there are berries and dancing, laughter and fun, Yeats makes connections and remembrance to his childhood with places like Rosses and Glen-Car. The child in this poem is no doubt being bewitched by the fairy's song. The Stolen Child, like many of Yeats' poems is a tale that draws the reader in and tells a wonderful story. These Cliffs are my Rosses and Glen-Car, they're my childhood. I grew up always wanting to see the Cliffs; when I was sick, I would watch "The Princess Bride" on repeat and although it took 19 years, I finally made my escape to my storybook world. 

            Where dips the rocky highland 

            Of Sleuth Wood in the Lake,

            There lies a leafy island

            Where flapping herons wake

The Cliffs of Moher are no doubt rocky highlands and although they may not dip into a lake, they definitely dip into the ocean. There are little islands surrounding the Cliffs and, on those islands, there lies puffins instead of herons, but it is a bird.

            Where the wandering water gushes

            From the hills above Glen-Car,

            In pools among the rushes

            That scarce could bathe a star,

Again, the water is very eminent on the edges, whether their gushing or rushing, the water gives the cliffs a fairytale atmosphere. The mention of Glen-Car alluding to Yeats' childhood coincides with the cliffs and my childhood. 

This poem resonated with me even before our trips to the Cliffs of Moher, I couldn't understand in the moment why, but I knew I enjoyed the lightheartedness of the poem with its underlying darker meaning. The poem sounded like a song, it was enchanting, and it told a tale. It took me to a place that I had been to before, but I couldn't put my finger on it until the Cliffs of Moher.