Attention! Some of this material is not in the public domain.
It is illegal to copy and distribute our copyright-protected material without permission. It is also illegal to reprint copyright texts or translations without the name of the author or translator.
To inquire about permissions and rates, contact Emily Ezust at
If you wish to reprint translations, please make sure you include the names of the translators in your email. They are below each translation.
Note: You must use the copyright symbol © when you reprint copyright-protected material.
Shy one, shy one, Shy one of my heart, She moves in the firelight Pensively apart. She carries in the dishes, And lays them in a row. To an isle in the water With her would I go. She carries in the candles, And lights the curtained room, Shy in the doorway And shy in the gloom; And shy as a rabbit, Helpful and shy. To an isle in the water, With her [would I]1 fly.
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)Confirmed with Yeats, William Butler. The Wanderings of Oisin: Dramatic Sketches, Ballads & Lyrics, T. Fisher Unwin, London, 1892, page 135.
1 Clarke: "I would"
Authorship
- by William Butler Yeats (1865 - 1939), "To an isle in the water", appears in The Wanderings of Oisin and Other Poems, first published 1889 [author's text checked 1 time 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 Allan Blank (b. 1925), "To an Isle in the Water" [medium voice and piano] [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
- by (William) Havergal Brian (1876 - 1972), "To an Isle in the Water", published <<1940. [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
- by Rebecca Clarke (1886 - 1979), "Shy one", 1912, published 1920. [voice and piano] [ sung text checked 1 time]
- by Steven Ebel , "My shy one", 2010. [chorus] [ sung text checked 1 time]
- by Joseph Eidson , "To an isle in the water", 2013 [soprano (or tenor) and piano], from Amhráin as an Linn Dubh. Songs From the Black Pool, no. 1. [ sung text checked 1 time]
- by Lee Hoiby (1926 - 2011), "To an Isle in the Water", 1950. [voice and piano] [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
- by Phoebe Wynn Johnson , "To an Isle in the Water", published 1921. [voice and piano] [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
- by Christopher Kaye Le Fleming (b. 1908), "To an Isle in the Water", published 1931. [mezzo-soprano or baritone and piano] [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
- by (James) Albert Mallinson (1870 - 1946), "To an Isle in the Water", published 1907. [soprano or tenor and piano] [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
- by Ellen Mandel , "To an Isle in the Water" [voice and piano] [ sung text checked 1 time]
- by Eugene John Weigel (1910 - 1998), "To an Isle in the Water", published 1950 [SSA chorus a cappella], from Four songs for women's voices [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
- by Emerson Whithorne (1884 - 1958), "Shy one", published <<1940. [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
- by (James) Healey Willan (1880 - 1968), "To an Isle in the Water", published 1926. [medium voice and piano] [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Vers une île au milieu de l'eau", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- IRI Irish (Gaelic) [singable] (Gabriel Rosenstock) , copyright © 2016, (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: 16
Word count: 76
Cúthail, cúthail
Cúthail í mo stór
I solas na tine
Lei féin go deo.
Iompraíonn sí isteach na gréithe
Go néata á leagan síos
Chuig oileáinín san uisce
A raghainnse lem’ ghéis.
Iompraíonn sí isteach na coinnle
Is tá mar bheadh ‘na lá,
Cúthail sa doras
Is cúthail sa scáil;
Is cúthail mar choinín
Cúthail is lách.
Ar oileán léi san uisce
A d’fhanfainn go brách.
About the headline (FAQ)
Authorship
- Singable translation from English to Irish (Gaelic) copyright © 2016 by Gabriel Rosenstock.
This author's work falls under the Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) Creative Commons license.
Gabriel Rosenstock. Contact: grosenstock04 (AT) gmail (DOT) com
If you wish to commission a new translation, please contact:
- a text in English by William Butler Yeats (1865 - 1939), "To an isle in the water", appears in The Wanderings of Oisin and Other Poems, first published 1889
This text was added to the website: 2016-12-09
Line count: 16
Word count: 66