And in her long nights, in her long house of smoke and miller's stones, she baked the bread we eat in dreams, strangest loaves, her pies full of anguish and days long dead, her fairy-haunted gingerbread, her cakes wet with tears.

Catherynne M. Valente
About This Quote

In this quote from William Yeats’ “The Lake Isle of Innisfree,” the speaker is speaking of a woman who is said to have lived in a house by a lake. She was said to bake the loaves of bread that we eat in our dreams. The loaves are said to be full of anguish and days long dead, which means they have been baked from the pain and sadness the woman has had to endure. It is also said that she baked her cakes wet with tears, which means that even though she has had a difficult life, she still has a strong desire to create beautiful things from her heart.

Source: The Bread We Eat In Dreams

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