by William Butler Yeats (1865 - 1939)
Translation © by Tamás Rédey

Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths
Language: English 
Available translation(s): FRE HUN
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.

About the headline (FAQ)

View 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"

Authorship:

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

  • Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Bertram Kottmann , copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission ; composed by Gary Bachlund.

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

  • FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • HUN Hungarian (Magyar) (Tamás Rédey) , copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 8
Word count: 60

Kéne három hímes égi kendő
Language: Hungarian (Magyar)  after the English 
Kéne három hímes égi kendő,
Melyet átsző arany és ezüst fény.
Kék s fakó és mélysötét a kendő,
Mit az éj hord meg a fény s a fél-fény;

Szórnám e kendőket lábad alá.
De nincsenek, csórón, csak álmaim;
Szórtam az álmaim lábad alá:
Tiporj puhán, hisz' tiprod álmaim.

About the headline (FAQ)

Translation of title "He wishes for the cloths of Heaven" = "Ő az ég kendőit kívánja"

Authorship:

  • Translation from English to Hungarian (Magyar) copyright © 2015 by Tamás Rédey, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
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This text was added to the website: 2015-03-20
Line count: 8
Word count: 48