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