by William Butler Yeats (1865 - 1939)
I whispered, "I am too young,"
Language: English
I whispered, "I am too young," And then, "I am old enough;" Wherefore I threw a penny To find out if I might love. "Go and love, go and love, young man, If the lady be young and fair." Ah, penny, brown penny, brown penny, I am looped in the loops of her hair. O love is the crooked thing, There is nobody wise enough To find out all that is in it, For he would be thinking of love. Till the stars had run away And the shadows eaten the moon. Ah, penny, brown penny, brown penny, One cannot begin it too soon.
About the headline (FAQ)
Note: revised after 1910Text Authorship:
- by William Butler Yeats (1865 - 1939), "The young man's song", appears in The Green Helmet and Other Poems, first published 1910 [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), "Brown penny" [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by John Woods Duke (1899 - 1984), "Brown penny", 1968 [ low voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Vittorio Rieti (1898 - 1994), "Brown Penny (Another Waltz)", published 1964 [ mezzo-soprano and piano ], from Two Songs Between Two Waltzes, no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Robert Leon Rollin (b. 1947), "Brown penny" [ duet for mezzo-soprano and baritone with flute, oboe, violin, viola, violoncello, and piano ], from Four Songs of Dreams and Love [sung text not yet checked]
- by Raymond Warren (b. 1928), "Brown penny", 1965 [ tenor and guitar ], from The Pity of Love [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-09-17
Line count: 16
Word count: 104