The Fiddler of Dooney

by William Butler Yeats

When I play on my fiddle in Dooney,
Folks dance like a wave on the sea,
My cousin is priest in Kilvarnet
My brother in Mocharabuiee.

I passed my brother and cousin
They read in their books of prayer,
I read in my book of songs
That I bought at the Sligo fair.

When we come to the end of time
To Peter sitting in state,
He will smile on the three old spirits,
But call me first through the gate.

For the good are always the merry
Save by an evil chance
And the merry love the fiddle
And the merry love to dance.

And when the folk there spy me
They will all come up to me
With ‘Here is the fiddler of Dooney’
And dance like a wave on the sea.