A mad song | The Song of Wandering Aengus | I went out to the hazel wood

by William Butler Yeats (1865 - 1939)

I went out to the hazel wood

Language: English

Our translations: CHI FRE GER

I went out to the hazel wood,
Because a fire was in my head,
And cut and peeled a hazel wand,
And hooked a berry to a thread;
And when white moths were on the wing,
And moth-like stars were flickering out,
I dropped the berry in a stream
And caught a little silver trout.

When I had laid it on the floor
I went to blow the fire aflame,
But something rustled on the floor,
And some one called [me by]¹ my name:
It had become a glimmering girl
With apple [blossom]² in her hair
Who called me by my name and ran
And faded through the brightening air.

Though I am old with wandering
Through hollow lands and hilly lands,
I will find out where she has gone,
And kiss her lips and take her hands;
[And walk among long dappled grass,]¹
And pluck till time and times are done
The silver apples of the moon,
The golden apples of the sun.

Available sung texts: ← What is this?

• J. Edmunds

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)
First published in Sketch, August 1897, revised 1899, renamed "Song of Wandering Aengus"
¹ omitted by Edmunds
² Edmunds: "blossoms"

Text Authorship:

by William Butler Yeats (1865 - 1939), "A mad song" [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 Gary Bachlund (b. 1947), "The Song of Wandering Aengus", 2005 [ baritone and piano ], from Three Magical Songs, no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Derek Bourgeois (b. 1941), "Song of Wandering Aengus", 1962 [ baritone and piano ], from Six songs of wandering [sung text not yet checked]
by James Brown , "The Song of Wandering Aengus" [ bass or baritone and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Doreen Droste , "The Song of Wandering Aengus", published 1973 [ SATB chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]
by John Edmunds (1913 - 1986), "The Hazel Wood" [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
by Richard B. Evans , "Song of the Wandering Aengus", from In the deep heart's core [sung text not yet checked]
by Donovan Leitch (b. 1946), "Song of Wandering Aengus" [sung text not yet checked]

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

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Garrett Medlock [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2007-05-02
Line count: 24
Word count: 164

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