He with body waged a fight,
But body won; it walks upright.

Then he struggled with he heart;
Innocence and peace depart.

Then he struggled with the mind;
His proud heart he left behind.

Now his wars on God begin;
At stroke of midnight God shall win.

First published in London Mercury, December 1934 and Poetry, Chicago, December 1934

Text Authorship:

• by William Butler Yeats (1865 - 1939), "The four ages of Man" [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

• by Jonathan Harvey (1939 - 2012), "The four ages of Man", 1965 [ bass and piano ], from Four songs of Yeats [sung text not yet checked]

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2009-01-19
Line count: 8
Word count: 47