Irish Poet William Butler Yeats-Down By The Salley Gardens
I
have often read and listened to the words to this W.B. Yeats poem and loved the
way it simply and beautifully tells the story of unrequited love.
Published
in his collection of poetry, The Wanderings of Oisin and Other Poems, entitled, "An
Old Song Resung" in 1889, the poem has been sung by many
different Irish and non Irish singers.
A
young man meets a woman in a garden, and because he does not agree with her on
how to "take love easy, as the leaves grow on the tree," he loses
her. It has long been considered an Irish folk song and one that Yeats
actually claimed was based on a song he heard a woman in Sligo singing.
Down By the Salley Gardens
By William Butler Yeats
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 easy, as the leaves grow on the tree;
But I, being young and foolish, with her would 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.
The true test of the staying power of these lyrics as a poem and
then a song is its ability to attract a variety of artists to perform
and give their interpretation of the words. From the Traditional
Irish performers such as James Galway, Tommy Makem and Liam Clancy to Tangerine
Dream, Grace Knight and even South Korean Operatic Pop singer Lim Hyung Joo,
many artists have found the haunting lyrics and lullaby melody inviting.
The
beauty of the lyrics can be heard in the link to a YouTube video I have
provided here. Hope you enjoy it. Please share your comments
with me.
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