Down by Black River

Down by the Salley Gardens

Down by the Salley gardens
my love and I did meet;
She passed the Salley gardens
with little snow-white feet.
She bid me take love easy,
as the leaves grow on the tree;
But I, being young and foolish,
with her would not agree.

In a field by the river
my love and I did stand,
And on my leaning shoulder
she laid her snow-white hand.
She bid me take life easy,
as the grass grows on the weirs;
But I was young and foolish,
and now am full of tears.

William Butler Yeats


Black River 

   The first time on Black River’s bank I had the upper hand,
Unasked for, as I gently spoke where we stood on black sand.
A terror had caught hold of her, strong as the fast dark flow;
She begged me swear I would stay true; I swore it would be so.

   The next time on Black River’s bank I knew what must occur;
My witless body had betrayed my heart, my mind, and her.
She spurned my touch, she cursed me twice, she turned away in grief;
I stared alone down chilly depths, love’s double-dealing thief. 


Maura O'Connell sings Down by the Salley Gardens.

Jeff Espinoza sings Black River.

    To Mike, Yeats - along with Robert Frost, Larkin, W.H. Auden and a few others - set the benchmark for care and mastery of language, the use of complex forms, allusive imagery and symbolic structures. Like Jeff, he was also a fan of the great Irish folk singer Maura O'Connell, whose influence is even more powerful in the musical arrangement of Song (Nelson Girl). The interplay of the poetry with the music is fascinating in both cases.

Location: New Zealand

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