The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1903-11-21

10 ruu';ltt lilt people O1 ireland hN
means ul the Irish thrAtrr is the aim
OF William Butler Yeats. who arrived
in TINS city last week, says the New
fArk Tribune. Poet. dl:matst and
lecturer. Mr.. Yeats is regarded at
home MS one of the chief factors i'm the
present national awakening of Ireland,
and he comes tn this country tu obtain
In" sympathy, if not the financial sup
port. of Americans. Mr. Yeats will
make tour of the country and lee
turc at such colleges as Yale, Harvard,
Columbia, Brown, Stanford and
Princeton, as we'll as before various
Irish societies of this country. His
lectures will be under the auspices OF
the Irish Literary society of New
York, of which John Quinn is prcs-
dent. Gaunt of body, with IL classical,
finely cllisclllcd face ana heavy
shock of black hair, finely sprinklcd
with silver, the young poet of the Irish
Renaissance imprcSScS one ut once
with his entire carncstncSs. lie list
ems to one in Il dreamy sort of way,
but as soon as he himself begins to
speak he talks with stress of voice
and Il play Of expression which show
his intensity of feeling. IL suppose
Americans wonder at my mission"
said Mr. Yeats yesterday as he leaned
on the brass foot bars Of his bed in his
apartments ut the Plaza hotel. "As
soon as | say my work is to educate
the Irish people with the Irish tllcatcr
the American always asks: Has not
Ireland had thcatcrs always? "You
may be surprised when l tell you that
until Il few years ago Ireland had no
stage which was charactcristically
Irish. In Dublin there were music
halls and tllcatcrs, to he sure, but the
productions that one found there were
not Irish The actors were English
men who had crossed the Irish Sea
from London, and the performance
was that conglomcratc mass of moth
ingness which is advertised as the
comic opera. Such productions filled
London thcatcrs year in and year out,
and their managers thought, accord
ingly, that they must be good enough
for Ireland. They have finally found
out that they were mistaken. These
comic operas, as we all know, are not
intended to educate. have only seen
one in all my life, but that was suf-
ficicnt Many of my people objected
to their frivolous character but the
great majority came to regard them
inimically, because of their politics.
Some cockney in the show would al
ways get Off something about his
majesty the King, and the audience
would begin to boil" The thin face
of the poet began to relax into smile
81 remember on one Occa sion," lie said,
chat comic opera company was
playing at Il large Dublin thcatcr and
the ballet had just marched on the
stage for the tout ensemble when
the leading lady uttered the line:
Hail to Britannia, Queen of the
Ocean,"
at once there was a riot. The bal
let beat a retreat, which was especial
ly lumiliating after such an announce
mcnt, and the scenery, 1 understand,
looked much like Kansas farm after
Il cyclone. There were twelve arrests,
and one young riotcr was sentenced
to an especially long term of imprison-
ment. Just before the judge pro.
n0unccd this young mans sentence
the prisoner said:
corn till WY l boosted oop the
show. Oh dcedn't loike it's marals.' {"
AS if to explain better how he him
self first began his work as a dramat-
list, Mr.. Yeats told of the political
questions which had kept the Irish
people in a ferment until about ten
years ago. The Fenian movement and
the land question had aroused such
passionate interest, he said, that they
had had no time to think of other
things. At the present time, however,
the masses We're coming to the con-
clusion, Mr.. Yeats said, that their lead