by William Butler Yeats (1865 - 1939)
The wild swans at Coole
Language: English
Available translation(s): FRE
The trees are in their autumn beauty, The woodland paths are dry, Under the October twilight the water Mirrors a still sky; Upon the brimming water among the stones Are nine and fifty swans. The nineteenth Autumn has come upon me Since I first made my count; I saw, before I had well finished, All suddenly mount And scatter wheeling in great broken rings Upon their clamorous wings. I have looked upon those brilliant creatures, And now my heart is sore. All's changed since I, hearing at twilight, The first time on this shore, The bell-beat of their wings above my head, Trod with a lighter tread. Unwearied still, lover by lover, They paddle in the cold, Companionable streams or climb the air; Their hearts have not grown old; Passion or conquest, wander where they will, Attend upon them still. But now they drift on the still water Mysterious, beautiful; Among what rushes will they build, By what lake's edge or pool Delight men's eyes, when I awake some day To find they have flown away?
Confirmed with W. B. Yeats, Later Poems, Macmillan and Co., London, 1926, page 237.
First published in Little Review, June 1917Authorship:
- by William Butler Yeats (1865 - 1939), "The wild swans at Coole" [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 Lowell Dykstra (b. 1952), "The wild swans at Coole", 1998, published 2001, first performed 2000 [ baritone and piano ], from Youth and Age, no. 4, Amsterdam, Donemus [sung text checked 1 time]
- by William Parks Grant (b. 1910), "The wild swans at Coole", op. 12 no. ? [ mezzo-soprano or baritone and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Timothy Hoekman , "The Wild Swans at Coole", 2009, published 2016 [ voice, violin, cello, and piano ], from Three Poems of William Butler Yeats, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Les cygnes sauvages à Coole", copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-09-19
Line count: 30
Word count: 176