Down By the Salley Gardens by William Butler Yeats

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.

 

More from William Butler Yeats:

• The Witch
• The Thorn Tree
• Three Songs to the Same Tune
• To a Child Dancing in the Wind
• To a Friend Whose Work Has Come to Nothing
• To a Shade