"The Stolen Child" is an 1889poem byWilliam Butler Yeats, published inThe Wanderings of Oisin and Other Poems.
The poem was written in 1886 and is considered to be one of Yeats's more notable early poems. The poem is based on Irish legend and concernsfaeries beguiling a child to come away with them. Yeats had a great interest inIrish mythology about faeries resulting in his publication ofFairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry in 1888 andFairy Folk Tales of Ireland in 1892.
The poem reflects the early influence ofRomantic literature andPre-Raphaelite verse.
Come away, O human child!
To the waters and the wild
With a faery, hand in hand,
For the world's more full of weeping than you can understand.
The poem was first published in theIrish Monthly in December 1886. The poem was then published in a compilation of work by several Irish poetsPoems and Ballads of Young Ireland in 1888 with several critics praising the poem. It was later published in his first book of poetryThe Wanderings of Oisin and Other Poems as well asFairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry.
The poem was first set to music as his Op.38 by the English composerCyril Rootham, originally forSATB voices and piano (1911) and then for SATB chorus and small orchestra (1912). The poem was also set to music and recorded byLoreena McKennitt on her 1985 debut albumElemental and again onNights from the Alhambra (2006). Subsequently, additional musical versions were recorded by thefolk rock groupThe Waterboys (appearing on their 1988 albumFisherman's Blues, with portions of the poem spoken byTomás Mac Eoin),Heather Alexander on her 1994 albumWanderlust andHamilton Camp in the song "Celts" on his 2005 albumSweet Joy. Another version set to music was included as a bonus track on theDanny Ellis album800 Voices. The poem was also set to music and recorded byKate Price on her 1993 albumThe Time Between.
In 2012,Merrymouth, a folk band led bySimon Fowler ofOcean Colour Scene, recorded the poem set to a melody written by Fowler and music by Merrymouth (Fowler, Sealey, McNamara) for their debut albumSimon Fowler's Merrymouth. American composerEric Whitacre has also set this poem in a piece forThe King's Singers and theNational Youth Choir of Great Britain. British composer and guitar virtuosoSteve Hackett recorded a version of Yeats' poem under the title "Waters of the Wild" on his 2006 albumWild Orchids.
The poem has also been set to music by Norwegian composerMarcus Paus, and was included on the Grammy-nominated albumKind (2010) by Ensemble 96; Stephen Eddins wrote that Paus's work is "sumptuously lyrical and magically wild, and [...] beautifully captures the alluring mystery and danger and melancholy" of Yeats.[1] Kirk McElhearn wrote that "it presents a sound-world that is astounding and moving".[2]
Keith Donohue's novelThe Stolen Child was inspired by the poem.[3] The refrain is prominently featured inSteven Spielberg's filmA.I. Artificial Intelligence.[4]
The refrain is spoken during the opening credits of the 2014 filmSong of the Sea, which is based largely on Celtic mythology.[5] The 2020 filmCome Away also features the poem.[6]
