Two Plays for Dancers E-Book

W.b.yeats

• Herausgeber: Interactive Media
• Kategorie: Poesie und Drama
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2019

Beschreibung

"Two Plays for Dancers" by W.B. Yeats is a captivating collection that brings together two of the poet's experimental plays: "The Only Jealousy of Emer" and "The Dreaming of the Bones." Both plays are characterized by Yeats's fascination with the intersection of poetry and performance. "The Only Jealousy of Emer" draws inspiration from Irish mythology, weaving a complex narrative that explores themes of love, jealousy, and sacrifice. In contrast, "The Dreaming of the Bones" is a poetic reflection on the 1916 Easter Rising, delving into the political and cultural currents of Yeats's time. Through these plays, Yeats showcases his mastery in crafting dramatic works that transcend conventional boundaries, inviting readers to immerse themselves in the rich tapestry of his symbolic and evocative storytelling.

Leseprobe

W. B. Yeats

Two Plays for Dancers

New Edition

LONDON ∙ NEW YORK ∙ TORONTO ∙ SAO PAULO ∙ MOSCOW

PARIS ∙ MADRID ∙ BERLIN ∙ ROME ∙ MEXICO CITY ∙ MUMBAI ∙ SEOUL ∙ DOHA

TOKYO ∙ SYDNEY ∙ CAPE TOWN ∙ AUCKLAND ∙ BEIJING

New Edition

Published by Sovereign Classic

This Edition

First published in 2019

Copyright © 2019 Sovereign Classic

All Rights Reserved.

ISBN: 9781787360150

Contents

PREFACE

THE DREAMING OF THE BONES

THE MUSICIANS

PREFACE

In a note at the end of my last book ‘The Wild Swans at Coole’ (Cuala Press.) I explained why I preferred this kind of drama, and where I had found my models, and where and how my first play after this kind was performed, and when and how I would have it performed in the future. I can but refer the reader to the note or to the long introduction to ‘Certain Noble Plays of Japan’ (Cuala Press.)

W. B. Yeats. October 11th. 1918

P. S. That I might write ‘The Dreaming of the Bones,’ Mr. W. A. Henderson with great kindness wrote out for me all historical allusions to Dervorgilla.

THE DREAMING OF THE BONES

The stage is any bare place in a room close to the wall. A screen with a pattern of mountain and sky can stand against the wall, or a curtain with a like pattern hang upon it, but the pattern must only symbolize or suggest. One musician enters and then two others, the first stands singing while the others take their places. Then all three sit down against the wall by their instruments, which are already there—a drum, a zither, and a flute. Or they unfold a cloth as in ‘The Hawk’s Well,’ while the instruments are carried in.

FIRST MUSICIAN

(or all three musicians, singing)

Why does my heart beat so?

Did not a shadow pass?

It passed but a moment ago.

Who can have trod in the grass?

What rogue is night-wandering?

Have not old writers said

That dizzy dreams can spring

From the dry bones of the dead?

And many a night it seems

That all the valley fills

With those fantastic dreams.

They overflow the hills,

So passionate is a shade,

Like wine that fills to the top

A grey-green cup of jade,

Or maybe an agate cup.

(speaking) The hour before dawn and the moon covered up.

The little village of Abbey is covered up;

The little narrow trodden way that runs

From the white road to the Abbey of Corcomroe

Is covered up; and all about the hills

Are like a circle of Agate or of Jade.

Somewhere among great rocks on the scarce grass

Birds cry, they cry their loneliness.

Even the sunlight can be lonely here,

Even hot noon is lonely. I hear a footfall—

A young man with a lantern comes this way.

He seems an Aran fisher, for he wears

The flannel bawneen and the cow-hide shoe.

He stumbles wearily, and stumbling prays.

(A young man enters, praying in Irish)

Once more the birds cry in their loneliness,

But now they wheel about our heads; and now

They have dropped on the grey stone to the north-east.

(A man and a girl both in the costume of a past time, come in. They wear heroic masks)

YOUNG MAN

(raising his lantern)

Who is there? I cannot see what you are like,

Come to the light.

STRANGER

But what have you to fear?

YOUNG MAN

And why have you come creeping through the dark.

(The Girl blows out lantern)

The wind has blown my lantern out. Where are you?

I saw a pair of heads against the sky

And lost them after, but you are in the right

I should not be afraid in County Clare;

And should be or should not be have no choice,

I have to put myself into your hands,

Now that my candle’s out.

STRANGER

You have fought in Dublin?

YOUNG MAN

I was in the Post Office, and if taken

I shall be put against a wall and shot.

STRANGER

You know some place of refuge, have some plan

Or friend who will come to meet you?

YOUNG MAN

I am to lie

At daybreak on the mountain and keep watch

Until an Aran coracle puts in

At Muckanish or at the rocky shore

Under Finvarra, but would break my neck [...]