The Celtic Twilight [Hardcover]

W. B. Yeats (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0861400690 | ISBN-13: 978-0861400690 | Publication Date: September 1981

I have desired, like every artist, to create a little world out of the beautiful, pleasant, and significant things of this marred and clumsy world, and to show in a vision something of the face of Ireland to any of my own people who would look where I bid them. I have therefore written down accurately and candidly much that I have heard and seen, and, except by way of commentary, nothing that I have merely imagined. I have, however, been at no pains to separate my own beliefs from those of the peasantry, but have rather let my men and women, dhouls and færies, go their way unoffended or defended by any argument of mine. The things a man has heard and seen are threads of life, and if he pull them carefully from the confused distaff of memory, any who will can weave them into whatever garments of belief please them best. I too have woven my garment like another, but I shall try to keep warm in it, and shall be well content if it do not unbecome me. Hope and Memory have one daughter and her name is Art, and she has built her dwelling far from the desperate field where men hang out their garments upon forked boughs to be banners of battle. O beloved daughter of Hope and Memory, be with me for a little.

--This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

COSIMO CLASSICS offers distinctive titles by the great authors and thinkers who have inspired, informed and engaged readers throughout the ages.

Covering a diverse range of subjects that include Health & Science, Eastern Philosophy, Mythology & Sacred Texts, Philosophy & Spirituality, and Business & Economics these newly revitalized treasures are now available to contemporary readers. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author

William Butler Yeats (1865–1939) was a poet, dramatist, senator, and 1923 Nobel laureate for literature. With Lady Gregory, he founded the Irish Theatre, which later became the Abbey Theatre, and wrote a number of folktale-influenced plays, including "The Countess Cathleen," "The Land of Heart’s Desire," "Cathleen ni Houlihan," "The King’s Threshold," and "Deirdre."

His poetry was at turns esoteric, political, and mystical. The volumes "The Wild Swans at Coole," "Michael Robartes and the Dancer," "The Tower," "The Winding Stair and Other Poems," and "Last Poems and Plays" established him as one of the most influential poets of the 20th century. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Colin Smythe Ltd (September 1981)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0861400690
• ISBN-13: 978-0861400690
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,779,454 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #35 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > People, A-Z > ( Y ) > Yeats, William Butler

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

71 of 74 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent Guide to Understanding Yeats' Early Poetry, January 27, 2001

By 

Daniel Myers (Greenville, SC USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Celtic Twilight (Paperback)

When Robert Frost (A not very likable fellow, when you read his biographies, despite his excellent poetry.) visited Yeats in Ireland, he made a comment to the effect that, "It's no wonder he believes in faeries." He was responding to the beautiful, mystical Irish landscape Yeats grew up in. This book, even though you're (probably) not in Ireland when you read it, will have you responding much as Frost did. The peasantry have so much of their pagan ancestry in their blood that, despite their ostensible Catholicism, their deep belief in "the little people" comes out as strong as ever when questioned about it. Reading these anecdotes, some of them grafted directly onto Yeats' early poetry, gives them a power they would not have had you not read this book and realized how "here and now" faeryland was to the common people at the time. The Celtic belief that death (into Faeryland)is far more desirable than birth is made beautifully apparent in this book. Hence, by the way, the celebratory Irish wake. Hence also this lovely poem

Heardst thou not sweet words among That Heaven-resounding minstrelsy? Heardst thou not that those who die Awake in a world of ecstacy? That love, when limbs are interwoven, And sleep when the night of life is cloven, And thought, to the world's dim boudaries clinging, And music, when one beloved is singing, Is death?

These sorts of things, as well as Yeats' poetry, are worth deep consideration in this present world where medicine is deemed omnipotent...and yet, nevertheless, we all die.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars For Celtic lit, try the classics, February 28, 2011

By 

Joan McGrath "jem" (WESTMINSTER, MD, US) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Celtic Twilight (Kindle Edition)

A wonderful addition to my kindle; I can read bits and pieces of it throughout the week and the beauty and lyricism follow me. If you're into Celtic lit, Irish stories/poems, fairy stories, it's all here. Not new age stuff, but the tried and true classics by a master poet.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful, March 15, 2011

By 

Jason M. Kovach "ElvenAlchemist13" (North Branch, MN USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Celtic Twilight (Kindle Edition)

Although I started to read this book for research purposes I fell in love with the prose. It give you a taste of the old Gaelic Irish flavor with stimulating imagery. Read it!