Alfred Edward Housman: Collected Lyrics
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Public-domain lyrics

The winds out of the west land blow

Alfred Edward Housman

“The winds out of the west land blow” as printed in A Shropshire Lad (1896).

Alfred Edward Housman: Collected Lyrics Text 49 1896 · historical text
Public domainSong lyricsVictorian song
Complete public-domain lyrics

This text comes from A Shropshire Lad, a historical songbook transcribed on Wikisource and reproduced from the pinned revision linked below.

Verse 1

The winds out of the west land blow,

My friends have breathed them there;

Warm with the blood of lads I know

Comes east the sighing air.

Verse 2

It fanned their temples, filled their lungs,

Scattered their forelocks free;

My friends made words of it with tongues

That talk no more to me.

Verse 3

Their voices, dying as they fly,

Thick on the wind are sown;

The names of men blow soundless by,

My fellows' and my own.

Verse 4

Oh lads, at home I heard you plain,

But here your speech is still,

And down the sighing wind in vain

You hollo from the bill.

Verse 5

The wind and I, we both were there,

But neither long abode;

Now through the friendless world we fare

And sigh upon the road.

Credits

Written by Alfred Edward Housman

Words by Alfred Edward Housman. Historical text published in A Shropshire Lad (1896); public domain. No claim to a modern recording or arrangement.

Source & text edition

A Shropshire Lad (1896), “The winds out of the west land blow”

A. E. Housman (1859-1936) died more than 89 years ago; his works entered the public domain in life-plus-70 jurisdictions in 2007, and the 1896 first edition is in the public domain in the United States. Entries credited to other hands are held unless their author died more than 70 years ago.

How to read this historical text and its source

Read the source on Wikisource

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Retrieved 2026-10-27. Line spacing and section labels are adapted for reading. The displayed text follows the linked edition. Editorial notes and abstract artwork are by 52lyrics.
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