Ian Bostridge talks about “The English Songbook”, a diverse collection of his favourite songs in the English language.
AMONG the songs on this CD is “Down by the Salley Gardens”, by W. B. Yeats (1865 – 1939) from “An old song re-sung” in The Wanderings of Oisin and Other Poems. The setting is by Benjamin Britten (1913 – 1976), and the pianist is Julius Drake.
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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 did not agree. In a field by the river my love and I did stand,
And on my leaning shoulder she placed 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. |
