How we cite our quotes: (Line)
Quote #1
When I had laid it on the floor
I went to blow the fire a-flame,
But something rustled on the floor,
And someone called me by my name (9-12)
Here we see the beginning of the magical transformation. Aengus lays down the fish and then hears something rustling and someone calling his name. The strange happenings here indicate that we are entering the realm of the fantastical, or supernatural.
Quote #2
It had become a glimmering girl
With apple blossom in her hair (13-14)
The transformation is a reversal of the story in the original Celtic myth. Whereas in the myth the girl turns into a swan, here we see a fish turning into a girl. So Yeats' poem is not only a poem about transformation, it's also a poem that itself "transforms" a story of Celtic mythology.
Quote #3
Though I am old with wandering
Through hollow lands and hilly lands,
I will find out where she has gone (17-19)
In this poem, it's not only the fish that's transformed into a girl. The speaker himself is transformed by the vision of the girl. His encounter with this girl changes his life. He falls in love with her and spends the rest of his time looking for her. So the poem shows us a magical transformation on one level, and on another level also shows us how love itself transforms Aengus—he becomes a wanderer, in search of the object of his love (sniff).