To a Squirrel at Kyle-Na-No
"To a Squirrel at Kyle-Na-No" is a poem by William Butler Yeats. Kyle-Na-No referred to one of the seven woods on the estate of Yeat's friend Lady Gregory. Nowadays, it's a Nature Preserve called Coole Park.
To a Squirrel at Kyle-Na-No
Poem
Come play with me;
Why should you run
Through the shaking tree
As though I'd a gun
To strike you dead?
When all I would do
Is to scratch your head
And let you go.
Notes
Written by William Butler Yeats.
Comments
From "A Yeats Dictionary: Persons and Places in the Poetry of William Butler Yeats" by Lester I. Connor:
"Kyle-Na-No [kil' a na no]. One of the seven woods at Coole, the estate of Lady Gregory. The name probably means Wood of the Nuts, from kyle, meaning wood, and gno, meaning nuts. But it may have meant Wood of the Yew Trees, from eo [yo], the Irish word for Yew Tree."
Yeats had a home just 3 miles away from the estate. Nowadays, it's a Nature Preserve called Coole Park.