Waterford Medieval Museum - Cloths-Of-Gold

Usually in these blogs, I take a place I visited and related it back to a famous Irish poem by finding one that I feel best fits my experience. However, when I visited the Waterford Medieval Museum, it was done for me! As I was walking through the exhibits, I came across this dark room filled with small lights on the celling making it look like a night sky full of stars. Once your eyes adjust to the sudden light chance, you are met with seven beautiful hand-crafted garments. On display are 15th century cloth-of-gold vestments, which are one of Ireland's finest medieval treasures. 

The amount of detail in these robes is absolutely unbelievable, I mean my jaw was on the floor at every single one. You could honestly spend hours in that one room and not get bord. The intense attention to detail, the hand stitched designs - every single thread used had meaning to the story the craftsman was trying to relay.

Now how does Yeats come into play? Well, when I finally left the exhibit, I turned around and saw a William Yeats poem painted on the wall! Personally, I felt like it tied the whole room together personally. These clothes represent such a deep, rich history that it is fitting that one of Ireland's most famous poets is showcased on the wall. The poem is titled He wishes for the Cloths of Heavan, and it is about love, vulnerability, and the desire to offer something precious to someone you love.

"Had I the heavens’ embroidered cloths,

Enwrought with golden and silver light,

The blue and the dim and the dark cloths

Of night and light and the half-light,

I would spread the cloths under your feet:

But I, being poor, have only my dreams;

I have spread my dreams under your feet;

Tread softly because you tread on my dreams."

I think this is a beautifully written poem and fits so well with the clothes on display. The cloths in his story represent the finest and most valuable things in the world -which is pretty much exactly what these golden vestments are. Yeats obviously did not write this poem about these articles of clothing, but I find it so heartwarming that he is included in this museum, especially in this exhibit. There are so many amazing things to do in Waterford, but I implore you to check out this museum and see all of Ireland's gorgeous treasures.