A Faery Song

W. B. Yeatsfirst published 1892from The Rose16 lines

Sung by the people of faery over Diarmuid and Grania, who lay 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:

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.

Text: Poetry, by W. B. Yeats (Standard Ebooks, 2024), from the collected editions of 1908 to 1928. Public domain.

In brief

Summary

Ancient fairies sing a blessing over two young runaway lovers.

A note tells us who sings: the people of faery, over Diarmuid and Grania, the lovers of Irish legend, asleep on their wedding night under a cromlech. The fairies call themselves "old, old and gay", thousands of years old. They ask that these "children, new from the world" be given silence, love, the long dewy hours of night, the stars, and rest far from other people, and they ask whether anything could be better. The last stanza repeats the first, so the song ends as it began, circling like a lullaby.

Lines to remember

We who are old, old and gay,

Give to these children, new from the world,

Is anything better, anything better?

Line by line

Lines 1 to 4The ancient singers
The fairies introduce themselves: "old, old and gay", "O so old!", "Thousands of years". Their great age is worn lightly; they are merry, not solemn. The short second and fourth lines give the stanza the bounce of a song.
Lines 5 to 12The blessing
They pray that "these children, new from the world" receive "Silence and love", "the long dew-dropping hours of the night" and "Rest far from men". The fugitive lovers are blessed with the gifts they most need, and the fairies ask, "Is anything better, anything better?"
Lines 13 to 16Back to the start
The first stanza returns almost word for word, with "Us" in place of "We", so the lines now finish the question "Tell us it then". The repetition makes the song circle back on itself, as old as the singers.

Themes

Youth and age

The singers are "Thousands of years" old; the lovers are "children, new from the world". The contrast is tender rather than sad. The ancient fairies look after the young pair, and their age seems to make their blessing stronger.

Love as refuge

What the fairies wish for the lovers is simple: "Silence and love", night, stars and "Rest far from men". Love here is a hiding place from the human world that pursues them, and the fairy song wraps it in quiet.

Context

The poem first appeared in The Countess Kathleen and Various Legends and Lyrics (1892), among the lyrics Yeats later grouped as "The Rose", and was lightly revised between 1895 and 1925. Diarmuid and Grania are the runaway lovers of Irish legend: Grania, promised to the old hero Finn, fled with the young Diarmuid, and the ancient stone tombs they were said to sleep under are still called their beds in parts of Ireland.

Form

Four quatrains alternating long lines with very short ones ("O so old!", "Silence and love"), rhymed on the short lines ("old" and "told", "love" and "above"). Repetition carries the music: "old, old", "Thousands of years, thousands of years", "anything better, anything better". The last stanza echoes the first like a sung refrain.

Minor verbal revisions between 1895 and 1925.