by William Butler Yeats (1865 - 1939)

Crazy Jane Talks with the Bishop
 (Sung text for setting by S. Grill)
 See original
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 loneliness
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."

Composition:

    Set to music 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

Text Authorship:

See other settings of this text.

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

  • GER German (Deutsch) [singable] (Walter A. Aue) , "Die verrückte Jane spricht mit dem Bischof", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • GER German (Deutsch) [singable] (Walter A. Aue) , "De narrische Jane sogds dem Bischof eihne", Viennese dialect, copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


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: 105