'The Perfect Beauty' at the Hawk's Well Theatre, August 2013

Earlier this year, I was approached to be part of 'The Perfect Beauty', an exhibition and performance event based on the poetry of W.B. Yeats for the Tread Softly festival.  10 artists and 10 musicians were given a poem as a basis for creating an artwork or musical composition.  The exhibition was held in the foyer of the Hawk's Well Theatre, Sligo, for the month of August and on 7th August the theatre hosted a multi-media event featuring live performances of the music, readings of the poems and projections of the accompanying artworks.

The poem I selected was an early Yeats poem called 'The Cloak, the Boat and the Shoes,' from the volume of poetry, 'Crossways'.

The Cloak, the Boat and the Shoes

                                     - W.B. Yeats

"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.'

Darkness Descends, 2013

pencil on paper

(29 x 21cm)