A fish turns into a girl. That's something that doesn't happen everyday. But this is the transformation at the center of "The Song of Wandering Aengus." The poem is inspired by a story of transformation that we find in Celtic mythology. Aengus—a god of youth and beauty—falls in love with a girl who's then transformed into a swan. He is eventually reunited with his love when he identifies her in swan-form. In the myth, he himself is transformed into a swan when he identifies the girl, and the two lovebirds fly off together. We can see that Yeats draws on this myth but also "transforms" it in important ways to make it uniquely his own.
Questions About Transformation
- How does Yeats transform the original Celtic myth about Aengus in this poem? Why does he do so, do you think?
- What does the transformation of the trout into the girl represent?
- In what ways is Aengus himself "transformed" through his encounter with the girl?
- What's the relationship between nature and transformation in this poem?
Chew on This
Don't be fooled by the fish. This poem is about Aengus' transformation.
Nah—this poem is just about the transformation of a trout into a girl.