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O cloud-pale eyelids, dream-dimmed eyes The poets labouring all their days To build a perfect beauty in rhyme Are overthrown by a woman's gaze And by the unlabouring brood of the skies: And therefore my heart will bow, when dew Is dropping sleep, until God burn time, Before the unlabouring stars and you.
About the headline (FAQ)
Confirmed with W. B. Yeats, Later Poems, Macmillan and Co., London, 1926, page 31.
First published in Senate, May 1896, as part of "O'Sullivan the Red to Mary Lavell", revised 1899, revised 1906Authorship:
- by William Butler Yeats (1865 - 1939), title 1: "Aedh tells of the perfect Beauty", title 2: "He tells of the Perfect Beauty", appears in The Wind among the reeds [author's text checked 2 times against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Paul Schwartz (b. 1907), "He tells of the perfect beauty", 1945 [ voice and piano ], from A Poet to His Beloved [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-09-17
Line count: 8
Word count: 53
Ô nuages pâles des paupières, rêveries vagues des yeux, Les poètes qui tous les jours s'échinent À construire dans leurs vers une beauté parfaite Sont vaincus par le regard d'une femme Et par l'indolence de la nichée du ciel : Et c'est pourquoi mon cœur s'incline quand la rosée Tombe de sommeil, jusqu'à ce que Dieu brûle le temps, Devant les étoiles indolentes et toi.
About the headline (FAQ)
Translation of title "He tells of the Perfect Beauty" = "Il parle de la Beauté Parfaite"Authorship:
- Translation from English to French (Français) copyright © 2015 by Pierre Mathé, (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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Based on:
- a text in English by William Butler Yeats (1865 - 1939), title 1: "Aedh tells of the perfect Beauty", title 2: "He tells of the Perfect Beauty", appears in The Wind among the reeds
This text was added to the website: 2015-12-27
Line count: 8
Word count: 65