The Washington times., 1903-07-12
MODERN IRISH LITERATURE
Tile Leader Of tile Celtic Re0oai an Irish Poet and Essqyfsk

essayist possesses. and which IL owes
entirely to the mere fact of his nation
ality. One must read ami prove it.
In The Celtic Twilight there are
many curious and interesting bits OF
folklore. notably the story OF Raftery,
the blind beggar-p0et. and Mary Hynes
"a beautiful woman whose name is 5tul
wonder by turf fires" The description
of her, gathered by one of these turf
fires. is picturesque enough:
Everybody says there is no one at
all to be seen now so handsome; It IS
said she had beautiful hair, the color Of
sold. She was poor but her clothes ev-
eryday were the same as Sunday. she
had such neatness. And II she went to
any kind of a meeting. they would all
be killing one another for a sight OF her.
and there was a great many in love with
her. but she died young. 1t is said that
no one that has a song made about them
will ever live long"
Beauty and Misfortune.
Akin to this is the saying of a man
in the north of Ireland:
He said that when a very beautiful
girl was born in a family that had not
been noted for good looks, her beauty
was thought to have come from the
Sidhe, and to bring misfortune with it.
He went over the names Of several beau
tiful girls that he had known, and said
that beauty had never brought happi-
ness to anybody. 1t was a thing, he said.
to be proud of and afraid Of"
But, for those who are more inter-
ested in the work than in the manner
of its doing the prose drama, intended
to be the first of a series of plays TO be
acted in an Irish theater. will seem
the finest of these three books. Those
who have read THE Land of Hearts
Desire" and THE Countess Kathleen. 3"
two poetic dramas by the same author,
will recognize the same qualities in this
All are marked by a height and breadth
and depth OF Imagination only possible
to the mystic. and by a certain haunt
ing sense of the unattainable. The hero
of this play is Paul Routledge. a coun-
try squire. who, disguised with the pet
ty aims and cackling ambitions of his
friends and neighbors, takes to the road
and becomes. first. a travelling tinker
and then a preaching friar. His is the
search of the Hindu Yogi for the alb
sence OF desire. the knowledge and peace
which comes of utter poverty; but the
play is cast in Celtic form. and borrows
nothing from the East. 1t is only the
world-old yearning of human nature in
the green isle of Oisin and Cuchullin in
stead of in the desert and jungle Of
GEutama. Through the whole runs the
whimsical sad humor of the Celt, and
the keen knowledge Of human nature
which makes it, despite its fantastic
form, as real as life itself Those who
look for a moral will be more than
disappointed, they will be bewildered
The moral is not there for those who
look.
In fact. the writings of Mr.. Yeats are
not for the Philistine at all. There may
be Yeats clubs, as there we're Omar
Khayyam clubs-the American in search
of knowledge is adventurous enough for
anything-but the unimaginative will
make no moreaof 1t after study than be-
fore. The fact remains, however, that
this author is one OF the men Of mod
ern times who may rightfully believe
himself to be inspired, even though not
a genius; for his mind lies open to all
the winds of fancy. and some of their
come from the true fairyIand whose
gates were shut when commerce began.
! New York: The Macmillan Company. =