I wander by the edge 
Of this desolate lake 
Where wind cries in the sedge:
Until the axle break 
That keeps the stars in their round, 
And hands hurl in the deep 
The banners of East and West. 
And the girdle of light is unbound, 
Your breast will not lie by the breast
Of your beloved in sleep.

About the headline (FAQ)

Confirmed with W. B. Yeats, Later Poems, Macmillan and Co., London, 1926, page 32.

Note: first published in Dome, May 1898 as one of the "Aodh to Dectora. Three Songs", revised 1899, revised 1906.

Text Authorship:

• by William Butler Yeats (1865 - 1939), title 1: "Aedh hears the Cry of the Sedge", title 2: "He hears the Cry of the Sedge", appears in The Wind among the reeds, first published 1899 [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 Stanley Grill (b. 1953), "He hears the cry of the sedge", copyright © 1977 [ soprano and piano ], from Six Songs, no. 3, confirmed with an online score [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Lowell Liebermann (b. 1961), "He Hears The Cry Of The Sedge", op. 40 no. 3 (1993) [ tenor, flute, string quartet, and piano ], from A Poet to His Beloved, no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Paul Schwartz (1907 - 1999), "He hears the cry of the sedge", 1945 [ voice and piano ], from A Poet to His Beloved [sung text not yet checked]
• by Peter Warlock (1894 - 1930), "He hears the cry of the sedge", c1920, published 1924 [ tenor solo, flute, English horn and string quartet ], from The Curlew, no. 6 [sung text checked 1 time]

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 page: David K. Smythe

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 10
Word count: 58