Songs of Love and Solace
Four Poems of William Butler Yeats
2009/13 | high voice and piano or chamber ensemble* | Op. 10
duration: 15:00
chamber version:woodwind quintet, piano, string quintet
to Michael Desnoyers
I. Brown Penny
II. He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven*
III. When You Are Old
IV. The Lake Isle of Innisfree
*Third Place, 2009 San Francisco Conservatory Art Song Composition Competition
Program Note
Songs of Love and Solace traces a young man's journey of love and heartbreak. The cycle of four texts by Irish poet William Butler Yeats begins with "Brown Penny." This short poem depicts a young man infatuated with the idea of falling in love, and then becoming awestruck as he contemplates its depth and power. In the second song, "He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven," the poet, speaking to his beloved, realizes he has nothing of value to offer but his dreams. "Tread softly," he implores, "because you tread on my dreams.” In "When You Are Old," we find our poet, heart-broken. In his grief he peers into the future and foresees his beloved, in old age, remembering the depth and purity of the his love for her, “But one man love the pilgrim soul in you, And loved the sorrows of your changing face.” In the final song, "The Lake Isle of Innisfree,” the poet, saddened but wiser, wistfully resolves to escape the struggles and heartbreaks of his modern existence, and seek solace in the beauty and calm of nature.
Texts
Brown Penny
from The Green Helmet and Other Poems (1910)
I whispered, 'I am too young,'
And then, 'I am old enough';
Wherefore I threw a penny
To find out if I might love.
'Go and love, go and love, young man,
If the lady be young and fair.'
Ah, penny, brown penny, brown penny,
I am looped in the loops of her hair.
O love is the crooked thing,
There is nobody wise enough
To find out all that is in it,
For he would be thinking of love
Till the stars had run away
And the shadows eaten the moon.
Ah, penny, brown penny, brown penny,
One cannot begin it too soon.
He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven
from The Wind Among the Reeds (1899)
Had I the heavens’ embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half-light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.
When Your Are Old
from The Rose (1893)
When you are old and grey and full of sleep,
And nodding by the fire, take down this book,
And slowly read, and dream of the soft look
Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep;
How many loved your moments of glad grace,
And loved your beauty with love false or true,
But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you,
And loved the sorrows of your changing face;
And bending down beside the glowing bars,
Murmur, a little sadly, how Love fled
And paced upon the mountains overhead
And hid his face amid a crowd of stars.
The Lake Isle of Innisfree
from The Rose (1893)
I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,
And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made;
Nine bean rows will I have there, a hive for the honey bee,
And live alone in the bee loud glade.
And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow
Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings;
There midnight's all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow,
And evening full of the linnet's wings.
I will arise and go now, for always night and day
I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;
While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey,
I hear it in the deep heart's core.
chamber version:woodwind quintet, piano, string quintet
to Michael Desnoyers
I. Brown Penny
II. He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven*
III. When You Are Old
IV. The Lake Isle of Innisfree
*Third Place, 2009 San Francisco Conservatory Art Song Composition Competition
Program Note
Songs of Love and Solace traces a young man's journey of love and heartbreak. The cycle of four texts by Irish poet William Butler Yeats begins with "Brown Penny." This short poem depicts a young man infatuated with the idea of falling in love, and then becoming awestruck as he contemplates its depth and power. In the second song, "He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven," the poet, speaking to his beloved, realizes he has nothing of value to offer but his dreams. "Tread softly," he implores, "because you tread on my dreams.” In "When You Are Old," we find our poet, heart-broken. In his grief he peers into the future and foresees his beloved, in old age, remembering the depth and purity of the his love for her, “But one man love the pilgrim soul in you, And loved the sorrows of your changing face.” In the final song, "The Lake Isle of Innisfree,” the poet, saddened but wiser, wistfully resolves to escape the struggles and heartbreaks of his modern existence, and seek solace in the beauty and calm of nature.
Texts
Brown Penny
from The Green Helmet and Other Poems (1910)
I whispered, 'I am too young,'
And then, 'I am old enough';
Wherefore I threw a penny
To find out if I might love.
'Go and love, go and love, young man,
If the lady be young and fair.'
Ah, penny, brown penny, brown penny,
I am looped in the loops of her hair.
O love is the crooked thing,
There is nobody wise enough
To find out all that is in it,
For he would be thinking of love
Till the stars had run away
And the shadows eaten the moon.
Ah, penny, brown penny, brown penny,
One cannot begin it too soon.
He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven
from The Wind Among the Reeds (1899)
Had I the heavens’ embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half-light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.
When Your Are Old
from The Rose (1893)
When you are old and grey and full of sleep,
And nodding by the fire, take down this book,
And slowly read, and dream of the soft look
Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep;
How many loved your moments of glad grace,
And loved your beauty with love false or true,
But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you,
And loved the sorrows of your changing face;
And bending down beside the glowing bars,
Murmur, a little sadly, how Love fled
And paced upon the mountains overhead
And hid his face amid a crowd of stars.
The Lake Isle of Innisfree
from The Rose (1893)
I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,
And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made;
Nine bean rows will I have there, a hive for the honey bee,
And live alone in the bee loud glade.
And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow
Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings;
There midnight's all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow,
And evening full of the linnet's wings.
I will arise and go now, for always night and day
I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;
While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey,
I hear it in the deep heart's core.