Had I the [heavens']1 embroidered cloths Enwrought with golden and silver light The blue and the dim and the dark cloths Of night and light and the half-light, I would spread the cloths under your feet: But I, being poor, have only my dreams; I have spread my dreams under your feet; Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.
In the deep heart's core
Song Cycle by Richard B. Evans
He wishes for the cloths of heaven
Text Authorship:
- by William Butler Yeats (1865 - 1939), title 1: "Aedh wishes for the cloths of heaven", title 2: "He wishes for the cloths of heaven", appears in The Wind among the reeds, first published 1899 [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):
Set by Richard B. EvansView original text (without footnotes)
Original title is "Aedh wishes for the cloths of heaven"; revised 1906; re-titled "He wishes for the cloths of heaven".
Confirmed with W. B. Yeats, Later Poems, Macmillan and Co., London, 1926, page 45.
1 Gurney: "Heaven's"Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
The Lake Isle of Inisfree
I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree, And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made; Nine bean rows will I have there, a hive for the honey bee, And live alone in the bee-loud glade. And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow, Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings; There midnight's all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow, And evening full of the linnet's wings. I will arise and go now, for always night and day I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore; While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements gray, I hear it in the deep heart's core.
Text Authorship:
- by William Butler Yeats (1865 - 1939), "The Lake Isle of Innisfree", appears in The Rose [author's text checked 2 times 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):
Set by Richard B. EvansFirst published in National Observer, December 1890
Confirmed with The Poetical Works of William B. Yeats in two volumes, volume 1 : Lyrical Poems, The Macmillan Company, New York and London, 1906, page 179.
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
Song of the Wandering Aengus
I went out to the hazel wood, Because a fire was in my head, And cut and peeled a hazel wand, And hooked a berry to a thread; And when white moths were on the wing, And moth-like stars were flickering out, I dropped the berry in a stream And caught a little silver trout. When I had laid it on the floor I went to blow the fire aflame, But something rustled on the floor, And some one called [me by]1 my name: It had become a glimmering girl With apple [blossom]2 in her hair Who called me by my name and ran And faded through the brightening air. Though I am old with wandering Through hollow lands and hilly lands, I will find out where she has gone, And kiss her lips and take her hands; [And walk among long dappled grass,]1 And pluck till time and times are done The silver apples of the moon, The golden apples of the sun.
Text Authorship:
- by William Butler Yeats (1865 - 1939), "A mad song" [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):
Set by Richard B. EvansView original text (without footnotes)
First published in Sketch, August 1897, revised 1899, renamed "Song of Wandering Aengus"
1 omitted by Edmunds
2 Edmunds: "blossoms"
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Garrett Medlock [Guest Editor]
The fiddler of Dooney
When I play on my fiddle in Dooney, Folk dance like a wave of the sea; My cousin is priest in Kilvarnet, My brother in Mocharabuiee. I passed my brother and cousin: They read in their books of prayer; I read in my book of songs I bought at the Sligo fair. When we come at the end of time To Peter sitting in state, He will smile on the three old spirits, But call me first through the gate; For the good are always the merry, Save by an evil chance, And the merry love the fiddle, And the merry love to dance: And when the folk there spy me, They will all come up to me, With "Here is the fiddler of Dooney!" And dance like a wave of the sea.
Text Authorship:
- by William Butler Yeats (1865 - 1939), "The fiddler of Dooney", from Bookman, first published 1892 [author's text not yet checked 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):
Set by Richard B. EvansResearcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
A cradle song
The angels are [stooping]1, above your bed; They weary of trooping with the whimpering dead. God's laughing in heaven to see you so good; The [Shining]2 Seven are gay with His mood. [I kiss you and kiss you, my pigeon my own. Ah how I shall miss you when you have grown.]3
Text Authorship:
- by William Butler Yeats (1865 - 1939), "A cradle song", appears in The Rose, first published 1893 [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):
Set by Richard B. EvansView original text (without footnotes)
First published in Scots Observer, April 1890; revised 1901
1 Grill: "singing"
2 Ebel, Grill: "Sailing"
3 Ebel: "I sigh that kiss you, for I must own/ That I shall miss you when you have grown."; Grill: "I sigh that kiss you, for I must own/ That I shall miss you when you have gone."
Research team for this page: Ted Perry , Malcolm Wren [Guest Editor]
When you are old and grey
When you are old and gray and full of sleep, And nodding by the fire, take down this book, And slowly read, and dream of the soft look Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep; How many loved your moments of glad grace, And loved your beauty with love false [or]1 true, But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you, And loved the sorrows of your changing face; And bending down beside the glowing bars, Murmur, a little sadly, how love [fled]2 And paced upon the mountains overhead And hid his face amid a crowd of stars.
Text Authorship:
- by William Butler Yeats (1865 - 1939), "When you are old", appears in The Countess Kathleen and Various Legends and Lyrics, appears in The Rose, first published 1892 [author's text checked 2 times 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):
Set by Richard B. EvansView original text (without footnotes)
Confirmed with The Poetical Works of William B. Yeats in two volumes, volume 1 : Lyrical Poems, The Macmillan Company, New York and London, 1906, page 179. Note: this poem is often described as a free adaptation of Ronsard's Quand vous serez bien vieille.
1 Bachlund: "and"2 Venables: "hath fled"
Researcher for this page: Garth Baxter