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by William Butler Yeats (1865 - 1939)

The folly of being comforted
Language: English 
One that is ever kind said yesterday:
"Your well-beloved's hair has threads of grey,
And little shadows come about her eyes;
Time can but make it easier to be wise,
Though now it's hard, till trouble is at an end;
And so be patient, be wise and patient, friend."
But, heart, there is no comfort, not a grain;
Time can but make her beauty over again,
Because of that great nobleness of hers;
The fire that stirs about her, when she stirs,
Burns but more clearly. O she had not these ways,
When all the wild summer was in her gaze.
O heart! O heart! If she'd but turn her head,
You'd know the folly of being comforted.

First published in Speaker, January 1902

Text Authorship:

  • by William Butler Yeats (1865 - 1939), "The folly of being comforted", appears in In the Seven Woods, first published 1904 [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 Rebecca Clarke (1886 - 1979), "The folly of being comforted", 1911? [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Ivor (Bertie) Gurney (1890 - 1937), "The folly of being comforted", 1917, published 1938 [ voice and piano ], from A Second Volume of Ten Songs, no. 6, London: Oxford University Press [sung text checked 1 time]

Researcher for this page: Ted Perry

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 14
Word count: 118

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