Cathleen, the Daughter of Hoolihan | Red Hanrahan's Song | The old brown thorn-trees break in two high over Cummen Strand

by William Butler Yeats (1865 - 1939)

The old brown thorn‑trees break in two...

Language: English

The old brown thorn-trees break in two high over Cummen Strand,
Under a bitter black wind that blows from the left hand;
Our courage breaks like an old tree in a black wind and dies,
But we have hidden in our hearts the flame out of the eyes
Of Cathleen, the daughter of Houlihan.

The wind has bundled up the clouds high above Knocknarea,
And thrown the thunder on the stones for all that Maeve can say.
Angers that are like noisy clouds have set out hearts abeat;
But we have all bent low and low and kissed the quiet feet
Of Cathleen, the daughter of Houlihan.

The yellow pool has overflowed high up on Clooth-na-Bare,
For the wet winds are blowing out of the clinging air;
Like heavy flooded waters our bodies and our blood;
But purer than a tall candle before the Holy Rood
Is Cathleen, the daughter of Houlihan.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

by William Butler Yeats (1865 - 1939), "Cathleen, the Daughter of Hoolihan", from Broad Sheet (April 1903), revised same year and in 1906 [author's text not yet checked 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 Brian Boydell (1917 - 2000), "Red Hanrahan's Song", 1965 [ soprano and Irish harp ], from Three Yeats Songs [sung text not yet checked]
by Brian Boydell (1917 - 2000), "Red Hanrahan's Song", 1966 [ soprano and Irish harp ], from Four Yeats Poems [sung text not yet checked]
by Brian Boydell (1917 - 2000), "Red Hanrahan's Song about Ireland", 1965 [ soprano, SATB chorus, narrator and orchestra ], from A Terrible Beauty is Born [sung text not yet checked]
by Ivor (Bertie) Gurney (1890 - 1937), "Cathleen ni Houlihan", 1919, published 1938 [ voice and piano ], from A First Volume of Ten Songs, no. 10, revised 1925; London: Oxford University Press [sung text checked 1 time]

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 15
Word count: 152