| Padraic Colum (1881–1972). Anthology of Irish Verse. 1922. |
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| 2. The Song of the Old Mother |
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| By William Butler Yeats |
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| I RISE in the dawn, and I kneel and blow | |
| Till the seed of the fire flicker and glow; | |
| And then I must scrub and bake and sweep | |
| Till stars are beginning to blink and peep; | |
| And the young lie long and dream in their bed | 5 |
| Of the matching of ribbons for bosom and head, | |
| And their day goes over in idleness, | |
| And they sigh if the wind but lift a tress: | |
| While I must work because I am old, | |
| And the seed of the fire gets feeble and cold. | 10 |
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