To an isle in the water | To an Isle in the Water | Shy one, shy one

by William Butler Yeats (1865 - 1939)

Shy one, shy one

Language: English

Our translations: FRE IRI

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.

Available sung texts: ← What is this?

• R. Clarke

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"

Text 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]
by (William) Havergal Brian (1876 - 1972), "To an Isle in the Water", published <<1940 [sung text not yet checked]
by Phyllis Campbell (1891 - 1974), "To an isle in the water", copyright © 2018 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
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]
by Phoebe Wynn Johnson , "To an Isle in the Water", published 1921 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
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]
by (James) Albert Mallinson (1870 - 1946), "To an Isle in the Water", published 1907 [ soprano or tenor and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Ellen Mandel , "To an Isle in the Water" [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
by John Theodore Livingston Raynor (1909 - 1970), "To An Isle In The Water", op. 623 (1962) [sung text not yet checked]
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]
by Emerson Whithorne (1884 - 1958), "Shy one", published <<1940 [sung text not yet checked]
by (James) Healey Willan (1880 - 1968), "To an Isle in the Water", published 1926 [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]

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

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: 77