The weekly times-record. (Valley City, N.D.) 1912-1922, 1921-03-24


J ~ nv ---
GAVE DISCUSSION OF
JOHN SYNGE'S WORK
Miss .Crofoot read the following pa
per before the Faculty Club last week
at its semi-monthly meeting:
John Wilmington Synge, Irish play
wright, was born near Dublin, April
16, 1871. and died at a private hospital
in Dublin, March "a, 1909. He gradu-
ated from Trinity College, Dublin,
winning prizes in Hebrew and Irish
and at the same time gaining schok
arship in harmony and counterpart
at the Royal Irish academy Of music.
He studied languages in France, a
great lover Of beautiful words, he
speedily became proficient in French,
German, and Italian. ut has been
said Of him that he could easily have
mastered the note Of every human be-
ing" In Germany he studied music
and was an excellent performer on the
piano, flute, and violin. This love of
. language and rhythm was no doubt
the keynote of Synge's success. Mr..
Meackin says, ut is only as stylist
he leaves all his rivals behind him but
here his lead is so great that he really
has no rivals at all He got into words
the surge and splendor. the ground
bass and overtones or mighty music.
He made prose that had more OF Au--
rora's light in it than nine-tenths Of
English poetry" q
Synge reallzed there was nothing 50
powerful as the caressing small touch
and Of this he was master. He lived
for some time in the Latin quarters of
Paris.s It was in this place while he
was writing French and English crit
icisms that he met Mr.. Yeats and was
advised by him to 60 to the Aran
Island, study peasant life and try
creative work. He must have realized
he was not a successful critic for he
promptly followed this advice. He
had a remarkably vigorous and we'll
Grained brain, an, unusual ability to
concentrate, and having found in Ire
land the material most suited to his,
needs. he re4ched the summit in very
few years. Speaking of these islands
he says, Tin Ireland for a few years
more we have 2 popular imagination
that is frey and magnificent and ten
der; so that those of JUS who wish to
write start with a chance that is not
given to writer's in places where the
spring-time of local life has been for,
gotten, and the harvest lis memory
only and the straw has been turned
into bricks" Synge was an imper-
sonal unsympathetic analyst of life, at
heart savage. He read no news
papers and discussed no politics. The
nrattle Of the world he called the
"possip Of FOOLS" One writer. a very
healthy one I imagine, says, che had
a sick mans interest in cruelty,
harshness, and violent 'temperaments:
that che did not keep the two sides OF
Irish character justly poised" Posi-.
bly, he got very near to the heart OF
this people and found there, wit, hu-
NOR, poetry, and hospitality like leaves
and vines clinging to and concealing
the real stalk Of Irish character which
is cruelty. Unimaginative as he ap-
pears to have been Synge knew ne
must have truth if he acquired fame;
and he appears to have portrayed
faithfully and Internationally the life
that he saw. trusting his own wonder
ful wording to give it the beauty and
color it required. He became asso-
ciated with, the Irish National me
atre about the time it, was founded IN
1908 and his drama "ln the Shadow
Of the Glen" was one Of it's first pro
puctions. While critics hesitate to-
say he altered the tone Of the theatre
thew tell us he was the strongest man
connected with it and had a voice IN
the selection Of it's plays.
Synge's literary associates had !!
very high regard for his superior IN
tellect and greater personality. They |
gave him their books and waited anx-
iously for his opinions. That heaever /
read the books, even those Of his most
intimate friefds. is doubtful; certain
" he never offered any criticisms: His
failure as critic in Paris may have ,
had something to- do with this. A :
silent. solitary man, he was so easily
embarrassed that his discomfort
to positive illness if he was /
compelled to remain long in the COM
pany Of more than eight or ten people.
No one knew what he thought or how
he felt. Yet so remarkable was ms !,
personality that he eXerted the great.
est possible influence over the men OF !;
letters with whom he came in contact.
He wrote some poetry, this, his
critics tell us, is unimportant except it
reveals his personality. It seems to
have been an outlet for his emotions.
One poem to the sister Of a literary
enemy begins thus: I
Lord confound this surly sister,
Blight her brow with blotch and bis
ter"
It grows worse and into this poem
le has woven his own name. This is
is ending, ,&
Lord this Judgment quickly bring,
IN your servant John M. Synge."
While in the Aran Islands he lived |
he life Of tramp and vagabond, pos !
ih]v from there we get this: