Poem

Yeats, W B. The Collected Poems of W.B. Yeats. New York: Macmillan, 1956. Print.

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"The Stolen Child" by W.B. Yeats

W. B. Yeats is one of the leading poets of all time. This particular poem, written in 1886, is what lead me to choose the topic of Changelings for my Research Blog. The poem talks about the luring of a child to water by fairies. What small boy, or girl for that matter, would not be tempted by water and adventure? Yeats wrote "The Stolen Child" early in his career and it was said by some to be reminiscent of losing his brother. Others believe it connects with the loss of innocence of a boy moving into manhood. I tend to believe it is more literal as Yeats had a love of Irish folklore and actually published two books on the subject. "Come away with me o human child" is a small part of the poem that has been used in movies and television shows. It depicts the legend of fairies luring human children into a far away land and sending changelings to take their place.

Steven Spielberg used this stanza in the film, A.I. Artificial Intelligence in 2001. The film is a mix of a modern day fairy tale and fantasy. In a tale much like Pinocchio, this robot want to be a human boy. I think it was brilliant to pull in a poem from teh1800's to illustrate the timeless longing of becoming human.