The Silver Apples of the Moon, the Golden Apples of the Sun

Description

“And pluck till time and times are done
The silver apples of the moon
The golden apples of the sun”
 
The last lines of the poem “The Song of Wandering Aengus” by W.B. Yeats. The poet explains the symbolism of the apples thus:
“If we wish to be melancholic, we should hold in the left hand a symbol of the moon, made out of silver, and if we wish to be happy we should hold in the right hand a symbol of the sun, made out of gold”.
In the poem by Yeats, old Aengus tells how one day he will pluck both silver and gold apples, thereby emphasising the importance of both emotions.