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by William Butler Yeats (1865 - 1939)

He Thinks Of His Past Greatness When A Part Of The Constellations Of Heaven
 (Sung text for setting by L. Liebermann)
 See original
Language: English 
I have drunk ale from the Country of the Young
And weep because I know all things now:
I have been a hazel tree and they hung
The Pilot Star and the Crooked Plough
Among my leaves in times out of mind:
I became a rush that horses tread:
I became a man, a hater of the wind,
Knowing one, out of all things, alone, that his head
May not lie on the breast or his lips on the hair
Of the woman that he loves, until he dies;
O beast of the wilderness, bird of the air,
Must I endure your amorous cries?

Composition:

    Set to music by Lowell Liebermann (b. 1961), "He Thinks Of His Past Greatness When A Part Of The Constellations Of Heaven", op. 40 no. 4 (1993) [ tenor, flute, string quartet, and piano ], from A Poet to His Beloved, no. 4

Text Authorship:

  • by William Butler Yeats (1865 - 1939), "Mongan thinks of his past Greatness", appears in The Wind among the reeds, first published 1899

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Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2012-05-23
Line count: 12
Word count: 108

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