×
Attention! Some of this material is not in the public domain.
It is illegal to copy and distribute our copyright-protected material without permission. It is also illegal to reprint copyright texts or translations without the name of the author or translator.
To inquire about permissions and rates, contact Emily Ezust at
If you wish to reprint translations, please make sure you include the names of the translators in your email. They are below each translation.
Note: You must use the copyright symbol © when you reprint copyright-protected material.
by William Butler Yeats (1865 - 1939)
Translation © by Geart van der Meer
Down by the Salley Gardens my love and I...
Language: English
Down by the Salley Gardens my love and I did meet; She passed the Salley Gardens with little snow-white feet. She bid me take [love]1 easy, as the leaves grow on the [tree]2; But I, being young and foolish, with her [did]3 not agree. In a field by the river my love and I did stand, And on my leaning shoulder she laid her snow-white hand. She bid me take life easy, as the grass grows on the weirs; But I was young and foolish, and now am full of tears.
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)Retitled "Down by the Salley Gardens" with the subtitle "An old song re-sung" when republished in Poems in 1895.
Note: "salley" is an anglicized form of the Irish word "saileach", which means willow.
1 Gurney: "life"2 Edmunds: "trees"
3 Edmunds, Gurney: "would"
Authorship
- by William Butler Yeats (1865 - 1939), title 1: "An old song re-sung", title 2: "Down by the Salley Gardens", appears in The Wanderings of Oisin and Other Poems, first published 1889 [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 Samuel Hans Adler (b. 1928), "But I was young and foolish", 1954 [baritone and piano], from Three Songs, no. 1. [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
- by Allan Blank (b. 1925), "Down by the Salley Gardens" [medium voice and piano] [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
- by James Brash , "Down by the Salley Gardens", published 1945. [voice and piano] [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
- by (Edward) Benjamin Britten (1913 - 1976), "The Salley Gardens", published 1943. [high voice and piano] [ sung text checked 1 time]
- by Alan Dudley Bush (1900 - 1995), "Down by the Salley Gardens" [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
- by Rebecca Clarke (1886 - 1979), "Down by the Salley Gardens", 1919, published 1924. [voice and piano] [ sung text checked 1 time]
- by Judith Cloud , "The Salley Gardens" [voice and piano] [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
- by June Harple Collins (b. 1915?), "Down by the Salley Gardens", published 1929 [baritone (or vocal duet for alto and baritone) with piano], from Two Songs [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
- by Alan DeBeer , "Down by the Salley Gardens", published <<1940. [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
- by Alice Decevee (b. 1904), "Down by the Salley Gardens", published <<1940. [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
- by John Edmunds (1913 - 1986), "The Salley Gardens" [voice and piano] [ sung text checked 1 time]
- by Elaine M. Erickson (b. 1941), "Down by the Salley Gardens" [soprano or tenor and strings] [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
- by Gerald Finzi (1901 - 1956), "The Salley Gardens" [ sung text checked 1 time]
- by Ivor (Bertie) Gurney (1890 - 1937), "Down by the Salley Gardens", published 1938 [voice and piano], from A First Volume of Ten Songs, no. 4, London: Oxford University Press [ sung text checked 1 time]
- by Irvin Hinchliffe , "Down by the Salley Gardens", published 1931, copyright © 1943. [voice and piano] [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
- by Herbert Hughes (1882 - 1937), "Down by the Salley Gardens", published 1909 [voice and piano], note: an arrangement based on a traditional air called "The Maids of the Mourne Shore" [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
- by John (Nicholson) Ireland (1879 - 1962), "The Salley Gardens", 1929-31, published 1934 [voice and piano], from Songs Sacred and Profane, no. 4. [ sung text checked 1 time]
- by John Jeffreys (1927 - 2010), "The Salley Gardens" [voice and piano], several settings [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
- by John Jeffreys (1927 - 2010), "I was young and foolish" [voice and piano] [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
- by Ellen Mandel , "Down by the Salley Gardens" [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
- by Diana Methold , "Down by the Salley Gardens", published 1937. [voice and piano] [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
- by Mary Plumstead (1905 - 1980), "Down by the Salley Gardens", published 1951. [voice and piano] [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
- by Irena Regina Poldowski, née Wieniawski (1880 - 1932), "Down by the Salley Gardens", published 1900. [voice and piano] [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
- by Robert Leon Rollin (b. 1947), "Down by the Salley Gardens" [baritone, flute, oboe, piano], from Four Songs of Dreams and Love [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
- by Martin Edward Fallas Shaw (1875 - 1958), "Down by the Salley Gardens", published 1919. [baritone voices and piano] [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
- by Henry Stanley Taylor , "Down by the Salley Gardens", published 1963. [voice and piano (or harp) with recorder ad libitum] [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRI Frisian (Geart van der Meer) , "Bij de marswâl", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Sharon Krebs) , copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Ted Perry
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 8
Word count: 91
Bij de marswâl
Language: Frisian after the English
Bij de marswâl lâns tripkjend Hie mij myn leafste fûn, Op wite fuotsjes tripkjend Wie sij dêrhinne rûn. Sij sei, twing net de leafde, Dy't as gers groeit oan 'e dyk; Mar ik dy't jong en dwaas wie, Ik joech har gjin gelyk. Troch Ierlâns griene fjilden naam mij myn leafste mei dy't op myn drôvich skouder har ynwyt hantsje lei. Sij sei, twing net it libben, dat as gers groeit op 'e daam; Mar om't ik jong en dwaas wie, binn' no de triennen kaam.
Authorship
- Translation from English to Frisian copyright © 2013 by Geart van der Meer, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
Contact:
- a text in English by William Butler Yeats (1865 - 1939), title 1: "An old song re-sung", title 2: "Down by the Salley Gardens", appears in The Wanderings of Oisin and Other Poems, first published 1889
This text was added to the website: 2013-04-23
Line count: 8
Word count: 86