by William Butler Yeats (1865 - 1939)
The fool by the roadside
Language: English
When all works that have From cradle run to grave From grave to cradle run instead; When thoughts that a fool Has wound upon a spool Are but loose thread, are but loose thread; When cradle and spool are past And I mere shade at last Coagulate of stuff Transparent like the wind, I think that I may find A faithful love, a faithful love.
Text Authorship:
- by William Butler Yeats (1865 - 1939), "The fool by the roadside", appears in Seven Poems and a Fragment, in Cuchulain the Girl and the Fool, first published 1922, revised 1925 a [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 Francis John Routh (b. 1927), "The fool by the roadside", 1962 [soprano and piano], from A Woman Young and Old [text not verified]
- by Owen Underhill (b. 1954), "The fool by the roadside", 1987 [soprano, cello, and piano], from Yeats Songs, no. 2. [text not verified]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2009-01-19
Line count: 12
Word count: 66