Father Hart Monologue from The Land of Heart's Desire

From The Land of Heart's Desire by W. B. (William Butler) Yeats

male · melancholic · 1:24 min

Thus do the evil spirits snatch their prey Almost out of the very hand of God; And day by day their power is more and more, And men and women leave old paths, for pride Comes knocking with thin knuckles on the heart. A VOICE (sings outside.) -- 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 must wither away.' [The song is taken up by many voices, who sing loudly, as if in triumph. Some of the voices seem to come from within the house.

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