by William Butler Yeats (1865 - 1939)
A drunken man's praise of sobriety
Language: English
Come swish around, my pretty punk, And keep me dancing still That I may stay a sober man Although I drink my fill. Sobriety is a jewel That I do much adore; And therefore keep me dancing Though drunkards lie and snore. O mind your feet, O mind your feet, Keep dancing like a wave, And under every dancer A dead man in his grave. No ups and downs, my pretty, A mermaid, not a punk; A drunkard is a dead man, And all dead men are drunk.
Text Authorship:
- by William Butler Yeats (1865 - 1939), "A drunken man's praise of sobriety", appears in New Poems, first published 1938 [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 Jonathan Harvey (1939 - 2012), "A drunken man's praise of sobriety", 1965 [ bass and piano ], from Four songs of Yeats [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2009-01-17
Line count: 16
Word count: 88