by William Butler Yeats (1865 - 1939)
The song of the old mother
Language: English
I rise in the dawn, and I kneel and blow Till the seed of the fire flicker and glow. And then I must scrub, and bake, and sweep, Till stars are beginning to blink and peep; But the young lie long and dream in their bed Of the matching of ribbons, the blue and the red, And their day goes over in idleness, And they sigh if the wind but lift up a tress. While I must work, because I am old And the seed of the fire gets feeble and cold.
First published in Bookman, April 1894
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
Authorship:
- by William Butler Yeats (1865 - 1939), "The song of the old mother" [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 Rosalie Housman (1890? - 1949), "The song of the old mother" [voice and piano] [text not verified]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2009-01-20
Line count: 10
Word count: 92