Faery Song

William Butler Yeats 1865 (Sandymount) – 1939 (Menton)



Sung by the people of Faery over Diarmuid and Grania, in their bridal sleep under a Cromlech.

We who are old, old and gay,
O so old!
Thousands of years, thousands of years,
If all were told:

Give to these children, new from the world,
Silence and love;
And the long dew-dropping hours of the night,
And the stars above:

Gie to these children, new from the world,
Rest far from men.
Is anything better, anything better?
Tell us it then:

Us who are old, old and gay,
O so old!
Thousands of years, thousands of years,
If all were told.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on May 01, 2023

30 sec read
111

Quick analysis:

Scheme x aBCB dexe dfxf aBCB
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 524
Words 103
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 1, 4, 4, 4, 4

William Butler Yeats

William Butler Yeats was an Irish poet and one of the foremost figures of 20th century literature. more…

All William Butler Yeats poems | William Butler Yeats Books

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