Consolation

O but there is wisdom
In what the sages said;
But stretch that body for a while
And lay down that head
Till I have told the sages
Where man is comforted.

How could passion run so deep
Had I never thought
That the crime of being born
Blackens all our lot?
But where the crime's committed
The crime can be forgot.

by William Butler Yeats (1865-1939) , "Consolation", from The Winding Stair, in A Woman Young and Old, published 1929

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive)

by Kees Schoonenbeek , "Consolation", 1991, from Eight English poems, no. 1.
by James Wilson (1922-) , "O but there is wisdom", 1966 [soprano and Irish harp or piano or orchestra], from A Woman Young and Old, no. ?

Date added to the website: 2009-01-03.

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