Crazy Jane talks with the Bishop | I met the Bishop on the road

by William Butler Yeats (1865 - 1939)

Crazy Jane talks with the Bishop

Language: English

Our translations: GER GER

I met the Bishop on the road
And much said he and I.
"Those breasts are flat and fallen now,
Those veins must soon be dry;
Live in a heavenly mansion,
Not in some foul sty."

"Fair and foul are near of kin,
And fair needs foul," I cried.
"My friends are gone, but that's a truth
Nor grave nor bed denied,
Learned in bodily [lowliness]¹
And in the heart's pride.

"A woman can be proud and stiff
When on love intent;
But Love has pitched his mansion in
The place of excrement;
For nothing can be sole or whole
That has not been rent."

Available sung texts: ← What is this?

• S. Grill

View original text (without footnotes)
¹ Grill: "loneliness"

Text Authorship:

by William Butler Yeats (1865 - 1939), "Crazy Jane talks with the Bishop", appears in The Winding Stair, first published 1929 [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 Peter George Aston (b. 1938), "Crazy Jane talks with the Bishop", published 1964 [ unaccompanied soprano ], from Five Songs of Crazy Jane [sung text not yet checked]
by Stanley Grill (b. 1953), "Crazy Jane Talks with the Bishop", 1999, copyright © 2000 [ soprano, flute, violin, viola, cello and piano ], from Crazy Jane Sings, no. 6, confirmed with an online score [sung text checked 1 time]
by Patrick Arthur Sheldon Hadley (1899 - 1973), "Crazy Jane talks with the Bishop", 1958 [ soprano and harp ], from Crazy Jane, no. 6 [sung text not yet checked]
by David Lidov (b. 1941), "Crazy Jane talks with the Bishop", 1967, rev. 1970 [ voice and piano ], from Crazy Jane's songs [sung text not yet checked]
by Ben Moore (b. 1960), "Crazy Jane talks with the Bishop" [ voice and piano ], from Eight Songs, no. 5 [sung text not yet checked]
by Paul Paviour (b. 1931), "Crazy Jane talks with the Bishop", copyright © 1969 [ soprano and piano ], from Crazy Jane, no. 5 [sung text not yet checked]
by Douglas Young (b. 1947), "Crazy Jane talks with the Bishop", 1970-3, copyright © 1969 [ soprano, tenor, bass clarinet, viola, violoncello ], from Realities [sung text not yet checked]

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Malcolm Wren [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2009-01-03
Line count: 18
Word count: 106