Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - The Irish Drama - William Butler Yeats
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has never been proofread. / Denna sida har aldrig korrekturlästs.
The Irish Drama 251
must indeed be great if they could inspire the rich
humor of a Lady Gregory, the deep symbolism of
a Yeats, the poetic fancy of a Synge, and the re
bellion of a Robinson and Murray.
Only a people unspoiled by the dulling hand
of civilization and free from artifice can retain
such simplicity of faith and remain so imaginative,
so full of fancy and dreams, wild and fiery, which
have kindled the creative spark in the Irish dram
atists of our time. It is true that the work of only
the younger element among them is of social sig
nificance, yet all of them have rendered their peo
ple and the rest of the world a cultural service of
no mean value. William Butler Yeats is among
the latter, together with Synge and Lady Gregory;
his art, though deep in human appeal, has no bear
ing on the pressing questions of our time. Mr.
Yeats himself would repudiate any implication
of a social character, as he considers such dramas
too
"
topical
"
and therefore
"
half bad
"
plays.
In view of this attitude, it is difficult to reconcile
his standard of true art with the repertoire of the
Abbey Theater, which consists mainly of social
dramas. Still more difficult is it to account for his
work,
"
Where There is Nothing," which is no
less social in its philosophy and tendency than Ib
sen s
"
Brand."
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
