The host is riding from Knocknarea
And over the grave of Clooth-na-bare;
Caolte tossing his burning hair
And Niamh calling Away, come away:
Empty your heart of its mortal dream.
The winds awaken, the leaves whirl round,
Our cheeks are pale, our hair is unbound,
Our breasts are heaving, our eyes are a-gleam,
Our arms are waving, our lips are apart;
And if any gaze on our rushing band,
We come between him and the deed of his hand,
We come between him and the hope of his heart.
The host is rushing 'twixt night and day,
And where is there hope or deed as fair?
Caolte tossing his burning hair,
And Niamh calling Away, come away.

About the headline (FAQ)

First published in National Observer, October 1893, revised 1893 and 1899, titled "The faery host" and later "The hosting of the Sidhe"

Confirmed with W. B. Yeats, Later Poems, Macmillan and Co., London, 1926, page 3.

Authorship:

• by William Butler Yeats (1865 - 1939), title 1: "The faery host", title 2: "The hosting of the Sidhe", appears in The Wind among the reeds [author's text checked 2 times 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 Charles Martin Tornov Loeffler (1861 - 1935), "The hosting of the Sidhe", published 1935 [ high voice and piano ], from Five Irish Fantasies, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]

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

• FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2008-09-07
Line count: 16
Word count: 117