O'Sullivan Rua to the Curlew | He reproves the curlew | O, curlew, cry no more in the air

by William Butler Yeats (1865 - 1939)

O, curlew, cry no more in the air

Language: English

Our translations: FRE ITA

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.

About the headline (FAQ)

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

Text Authorship:

by William Butler Yeats (1865 - 1939), "O'Sullivan Rua to the Curlew" [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 Lawrence Gilman (1878 - 1939), "The curlew", published 1904 [ reciter and piano ], from Three Songs [sung text not yet checked]
by Peggy Glanville-Hicks (1912 - 1990), "He reproves the curlew", <<1932 [ voice and piano ], unpublished [sung text not yet checked]
by Morfydd Llwyn Owen (1891 - 1918), "Haurahan reproves the curlew", 1913 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Richard Roderick-Jones (b. 1947), "He reproves the curlew", 1966 [ soprano and piano ], from The wind among the reeds [sung text not yet checked]
by John Kenneth Tavener (1944 - 2013), "The curlew", 1984 [ soprano and piano ], from Song Cycle for Gina, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
by Peter Warlock (1894 - 1930), "He reproves the curlew", published 1924 [ tenor solo, flute, English horn and string quartet ], from The Curlew, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]

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

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