Mythology & Folklore

A Faery Song

by W. B. Yeats 1865–1939

From The Rose (1893)

Mythology & Folklore

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:

Give 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.

✦ ✦ ✦

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

MLA

Yeats, W. B. “A Faery Song.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/yeats/125/.

Chicago

Yeats, W. B. “A Faery Song.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/yeats/125/.

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