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I slept on my three-leged stool by the fire, The speckled cat slept on my knee; We never thought to enquire Where the brown hare might be, And whether the door were shut. Who knows how she drank the wind Stretched up on two legs from the mat, Before she had settled her mind To drum with her heel and to leap: Had I but awakened from sleep And called her name, she had heard, It may be, and not have stirred, That now, it may be, has found The horn's sweet note and the tooth of the hound.
About the headline (FAQ)
Confirmed with W. B. Yeats, Later Poems, Macmillan and Co., London, 1926, page 314.
Text Authorship:
- by William Butler Yeats (1865 - 1939), no title, appears in The Wild Swans at Coole, in Two Songs of a Fool, no. 2, first published 1919 [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 Stanley Grill (b. 1953), "Two Songs of a Fool II", copyright © 1977 [ soprano and piano ], from Six Songs, no. 5, confirmed with an online score [sung text checked 1 time]
The text above (or a part of it) is used in the following settings:
- by Gary Bachlund (b. 1947), "Songs of a Fool", 2010 [ medium voice and piano ]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2011-12-28
Line count: 14
Word count: 99
Je dormais près du feu sur ma chaise à trois pieds, Le chat tacheté dormait sur mes genoux ; Nous n'avions jamais songé à savoir Où pouvait être le lièvre brun, Et si la porte était fermée. Qui sait comment il prit le vent, Étira ses deux pattes sur le paillasson Avant de se décider À tambouriner du talon et à sauter : Si je m'étais réveillé Et l'avais appelé par son nom, il aurait entendu, Peut-être, et ne serait pas sorti, Alors que maintenant il a peut-être trouvé La douce note du cor et la dent du chien.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- Translation from English to French (Français) copyright © 2015 by Pierre Mathé, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
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Based on:
- a text in English by William Butler Yeats (1865 - 1939), no title, appears in The Wild Swans at Coole, in Two Songs of a Fool, no. 2, first published 1919
This text was added to the website: 2015-12-29
Line count: 14
Word count: 97