O, curlew, cry no more in the air, 
Or only to the waters in the West; 
Because your crying brings to my mind 
Passion-dimmed eyes and long heavy hair 
That was shaken out over my breast: 
There is enough evil in the crying of wind.

First published in Savoy, November 1896, as one of Windlestraws, revised 1899 and 1906

Composition:

Set to music by Peter Warlock (1894 - 1930), "He reproves the curlew", published 1924 [ tenor solo, flute, English horn and string quartet ], from The Curlew, no. 1

Text Authorship:

• by William Butler Yeats (1865 - 1939), "O'Sullivan Rua to the Curlew"

See other settings of this text.

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

• FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , copyright © 2018, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "O chiurlo, più non gridare all'aria", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: David K. Smythe

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 6
Word count: 45