Yeats the Playwright

Excerpt from Yeats the Playwright: A Commentary on Character and Design in the Major Plays

Ince my first book on Yeats was published sixteen years ago I have learnt much from many distinguished students of Yeats's'poetry; but to Birgit Bjersby (the Interpreta tion of the Cuchulain Legend in the Worles of W. B. Yeats), Giorgio Melchiori (articles later incorporated 1n his The Whole Mystery of Art) Thomas Parkinson (w. B. Yeats. Self Critic), and F. A. C. Wilson (w. B. Yeats and Tradition), all of whom have written at length. On the plays, I am more particularly indebted 1n the writing of this book. I regret that Mr. Wilson's second book, Yeats's I conography appeared after the greater part of my work was done, as did an excellent brief account, with superb illustrations, by _d. J. Gordon and Ian Fletcher, in W. B. Yeats: Images of a Poet. Some portions of this book (chapter I in part, Chapter III, Chapter VI, and a section of Chapter VII) have appeared pre viously in periodicals and I am grateful to the editors and pub lishers of The Modern Language_ Review, English Studies, The Review of English Studies, and The Huntington Library Quarterly for permission to revise and reprint them. Thanks are due to the following for permission to reprint copyright material: Mrs. W. B. Yeats and Messrs. Macmillan and Co. For passages from the works of W B. Yeats, Mrs. Yeats and Rupert hart-davis for passages from The Letters of W. B. Yeats, edited by Allan Wade; Messrs. Faber and Faber for a passage from The Translations cf.

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