Michael - the lower case letters are the notes to each syllable. And yes, Rick, there has been some adjustment over time to make it more 'singable' but the continuous chant in lines five & six of each verse (again, with a note changed here or there by some) is certainly directly from Yeats.

Maybe I should just list the discography as I know it, and then flesh out the details. Here are three basic categories: 1- More or less to Yeats' tune, by year & artist:

1954 - Burl Ives - Decca DL 8444 - 'Burl Ives: Songs of Old Ireland' titled - 'The Wandering of Old Aengus' - acapella

1962 - Judy Collins - Elektra EKS 7222 - 'Golden APples of the Sun' titled - 'Golden Apples of the Sun' - guitar accompinament, fingerpicking - later on 'So Early in the Spring' (1971) & re-released on CD in 2001 as double cd with 'Maid of Constant Sorrow' on Wildflower label

1966 - Dave Van Ronk - Verve/Forecast F23 3309 - 'No Dirty Names' - title - 'Song of the Wandering Angus' - guitar, droning strum style - later live version recorded in 1967 on 1997 Collectors Classics CD (Just a Memory) JAM 9132-21997 - 'Live at Sir George Williams University'

1974 - Richie Havens - Polydor SF S 6201 - 'Mixed Bag II' - title - 'Wandering Angus' - guitar, droning strum style

1986 - Christy Moore - Green Linnet SIF 3302 (recorded march 1984) - 'Ride On' - title - 'Song of Wandering Aongus' (yes, with an 'o'!) - guitar -later on compilation 'Now & in Time to be, A Musical COllection of Works of W. B . Yeats' Grapevine records, 1997 GRA CD 219 - now spelled 'Aengus'

1987 - Jean Redpath - Philo CD PH -1110 - 'A Fine SOng for Singing' - title - 'Song of Wandering Aengus' - guitar, cello

1997 - Karan Casey - Shanachie 78007 - 'Songlines' - title 'The SOng of Wandering Aengus' - violin, guitar, waltz time

2 - recitations, with & without musical background

1956 - Siobhan McKenna - Spoken Arts 707 - 'Irish Ballads, Folksongs & Lyrics read by Siobhan McKenna' - title - 'The Song of Wandering Angus'

1959 - William Butler Yeats, Sobhan McKenna, Michael MacLiammoir - Spoken Arts 753 'The Poens of William Butler Yeats read by....' - title - 'The Song of Wnadering Aengus' - read by Michael MacLiammoir

1964 - Seraffyn, the Last Great Troubador (Seraffyn Mork) - 'Of Love, of War, of Many Things' - title - 'The Song of Wandering Aengus' - lute excercise, & background soprano vocalising by Carolyn Wilmshurst

1995 - Tommy Makem - Shanachie 52040 'From the Archives' - title - 'Song of the Wandering Aengus' - spoken, guitar accompaniment

3 - tunes other than Yeats'

1971 - Donovan - Pye Records Dawn DNLD 4001 - 'H. M. S. Donovan' - title - 'The Song of the Wandering Aengus' - music by Donovan Leitch - later reissue Beat Goes On cd - BGO 11p6 1998

1992 - Ceoltoiri (Connie McKenna, Sue Richards, Karen Ashborrk) - Maggies Music, MMCD 202 - 'Silver Apples of the Moon' - title - 'Song of Wandering Aengus' - set to Northumbrian tune by Sue RIchards, 'Gan to the Kye wi' me'

4 - recordings I have not heard yet

1986 - Angelo Branduardi - 'Angelo Branduardi canta Yeats' - sung in Italian! (using the melody of Donovan Leitch)

1993 Bill Douglas - Hearts of Space 11035 - 'Kaleidoscope' - title - 'Golden Apples of the Sun' - piano instrumental?