How we cite our quotes: (Line)
Quote #4
It had become a glimmering girl
With apple blossom in her (13-14)
Here we see nature as a source of magic. The fish that the speaker catches to eat for supper has suddenly turned into a "glimmering girl." This incident reflects the way in which the poem frames nature as a source of the fantastical and the magical. The fact that the girl has "apple blossom" in her hair also ties her to nature.
Quote #5
And walk among long dappled grass,
And pluck till time and times are done,
The silver apples of the moon,
The golden apples of the sun (21-24)
What does Aengus want to do when he finds his love? He wants to walk in the grass with her. Nature itself becomes symbolic of the speaker's love for the glimmering girl, and the fulfillment of that love. He imagines plucking the "silver apples" and the "golden apples" of the moon and sun with her. The "apples," of course, recall the "apple blossom" in the girl's hair. So the apples connect the girl with nature, and they also connect the speaker's love for the girl to nature. Nature is the source of his love, and it's also where his love finds expression.