The wind blows out of the gates of the...

The wind blows out of the gates of the day,
The wind blows over the lonely of heart,
And the lonely of heart is withered away.
While the faeries dance in a place apart,
Shaking their milk-white feet in a ring,
Tossing their milk-white arms in the air
For they hear the wind laugh and murmur and sing
Of a land where even the old are fair,
And even the wise are merry of tongue
But I heard a reed of Coolaney say,
When the wind has laughed and murmured and sung
The lonely of heart is withered away

by William Butler Yeats (1865-1939) , no title, from The Land of Heart's Desire, published 1894, revised 1903

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

by Henry Franklin Belknap Gilbert (1868-1928) , "Faery song", published 1905. [voice and piano]
by Ivor Gurney (1890-1937) , "The wind blows out of the gates of the day" [voice and piano]
by Havelock Nelson (1917-1996) , "The lonely of heart", published 1968. [SSA chorus and piano]
by Martin Edward Fallas Shaw (1875-1958) , "The Land of Heart's Desire", published 1917. [voice and piano (or oboe and strings)]

Date added to the website: 2009-01-17.

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Sheet music:

  Search sheetmusicplus.com for The lonely of heart, The wind blows out of the gates of the day, Faery song, The Land of Heart's Desire, Art song , Lieder, chansons, or works for solo voice
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CDs:

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Books:

  The Art of the Song Recital [amazon.com]
  The Book of Lieder: The Original Texts of Over 1000 Songs [amazon.com]
  Search amazon.com for art song, Lieder, or chansons
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