Come, let me sing into your ear;
Those dancing days are gone,
All that silk and satin gear;
Crouch upon a stone,
Wrapping that foul body up
In as foul a rag:
I carry the sun in a golden cup.
The moon in a silver bag.

Curse as you may I sing it through;
What matter if the knave
That the most could pleasure you,
The children that he gave,
Are somewhere sleeping like a top
Under a marble flag?
I carry the sun in a golden cup.
The moon in a silver bag.

I thought it out this very day.
Noon upon the clock,
A man may put pretence away
Who leans upon a stick,
May sing, and sing until he drop,
Whether to maid or hag:
I carry the sun in a golden cup,
The moon in a silver bag.

About the headline (FAQ)

First published in London Mercury, November 1930, revised 1932

Text Authorship:

• by William Butler Yeats (1865 - 1939), "A song for music: Those dancing days are gone" [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 Peter George Aston (b. 1938), "Those dancing days are gone", published 1964 [unaccompanied soprano], from Five Songs of Crazy Jane [
   text not verified 
  ]
• by Jolyon Brettingham Smith (1949 - 2008), "Dancing days", op. 13, published 1975 [soprano, tambourine, flute, oboe, clarinet, horn, trumpet, harp, piano, string quartet, and percussion], Berlin, Bote & Bock [
   text not verified 
  ]
• by John Huggler (b. 1928), "Come, let me sing into your ear", 1958. [coloratura soprano, clarinet, viola, and violoncello] [
   text not verified 
  ]
• by Raymond Warren (b. 1928), "Those dancing days are gone", published 1971 [baritone and piano], from Songs of Old Age [
   text not verified 
  ]
• by Douglas Young (b. 1947), "Those dancing days are gone", 1970-3 [tenor and violoncello], from Realities [
   text not verified 
  ]

Available translations, adaptations, and transliterations (if applicable):

• FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2009-01-20
Line count: 24
Word count: 142