Two Sad Songs

by Stanley Grill (b. 1953)

Word count: 178

1. When you are sad [sung text checked 1 time]

When you are sad,
The mother of the stars weeps too,
And all her starlight is with sorrow mad,
And tears of fire fall gently in the dew.

When you are sad,
The mother of the wind mourns too,
And her old wind that no mirth ever had,
Wanders and wails before my heart most true.

When you are sad,
The mother of the wave sighs too,
And her dim wave bids man be no more glad,
And then the whole world’s trouble weeps with you.

Authorship

by William Butler Yeats (1865 - 1939), appears in The Countess Kathleen and Various Legends and Lyrics, first published 1892 [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]

Researcher for this text: Malcolm Wren [Guest Editor]

2. The Cloak, the Boat, and the Shoes [sung text checked 1 time]

'What do you make so fair and bright?'

'I make the cloak of Sorrow:
O lovely to see in all men's sight
Shall be the cloak of Sorrow,
In all men's sight.'

'What do you build with sails for flight?'

'I build a boat for Sorrow:
O swift on the seas all day and night
Saileth the rover Sorrow,
All day and night.'

What do you weave with wool so white?'

'I weave the shoes of Sorrow:
Soundless shall be the footfall light
In all men's ears of Sorrow,
Sudden and light.'

Authorship

by William Butler Yeats (1865 - 1939), "Voices" [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

See other settings of this text.

First published in Dublin University Review, March 1885, revised 1895

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]