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by William Butler Yeats (1865 - 1939)

The lot of love is chosen. I learnt that...
Language: English 
The lot of love is chosen.  I learnt that much
Struggling for an image on the track
Of the whirling Zodiac.
Scarce did he my body touch,
Scarce sank he from the west
Or found a subtetranean rest
On the maternal midnight of my breast
Before I had marked him on his northern way,
And seemed to stand although in bed I lay.
I struggled with the horror of daybreak,
I chose it for my lot! If questioned on
My utmost pleasure with a man
By some new-married bride, I take
That stillness for a theme
Where his heart my heart did seem
And both adrift on the miraculous stream
Where -- wrote a learned astrologer -- 
The Zodiac is changed into a sphere.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

  • by William Butler Yeats (1865 - 1939), "The choice", appears in The Winding Stair, in A Woman Young and Old, first published 1929 [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 James Walter Wilson (b. 1922), "The lot of love is chosen", 1966 [soprano and Irish harp or piano or orchestra], from A Woman Young and Old [
     text not verified 
    ]

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2008-09-19
Line count: 18
Word count: 122

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