(Down By the) Salley Gardens — Choristers of Lichfield Cathedral Choir

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The boy choristers of Lichfield Cathedral Choir, under the direction of Andrew Lumsden, perform Benjamin Britten's musical setting (for treble voices and piano) of 'Down by the Salley [sometimes 'Sally'] Gardens'.

The piece takes its text from a poem by Irish poet and playwright 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 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.