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cap-and-bells
The Cap and Bells
Music © 1989 Stephen Savitzky. CC-by-nc-sa. Words: William Butler Yeats, from
The Wind Upon the Reeds
, 1899
Lyrics
[pdf]
A
Asus4
A
The
jester walked in
the
garden:
Asus2
A
The
garden had fallen
still;
Asus2
A
Asus2
He
bade his soul
rise upw
ard
D
Asus2
A
And
stand on her
window-
sill.
D
Dsus2
D
It
rose in a straight
blue gar
ment,
Asus2
A
When
owls began to
call:
Asus2
A
It had
grown wise-tongued by
thinking
D
A
Of a
quiet and light foot
fall;
D5
D
Dsus2
But the
young queen would
not list
en;
Asus2
A
She
rose in her pale night-
gown;
Asus2
A
Asus2
She
drew in the heavy
case
ment
D
A
Asus2 A
And
pushed the latches
down.
He bade his heart go to her,
When the owls called out no more;
In a red and quivering garment
It sang to her through the door.
It had grown sweet-tongued by dreaming
Of a flutter of flower-like hair;
But she took up her fan from the table
And waved it off on the air.
`I have cap and bells,' he pondered,
`I will send them to her and die';
And when the morning whitened
He left them where she went by.
She laid them upon her bosom,
Under a cloud of her hair,
And her red lips sang them a love-song
Till stars grew out of the air.
She opened her door and her window,
And the heart and soul came through,
To her right hand came the red one,
To her left hand came the blue.
They set up a noise like crickets,
A chattering wise and sweet,
And her hair was a folded flower
And the quiet of love in her feet.