The Countess Cathleen
By W B Yeats
()
About this ebook
W B Yeats
William Butler Yeats was born in 1865 in County Dublin. With his much-loved early poems such as 'The Stolen Child', and 'He Remembers Forgotten Beauty', he defined the Celtic Twilight mood of the late-Victorian period and led the Irish Literary Renaissance. Yet his style evolved constantly, and he is acknowledged as a major figure in literary modernism and twentieth-century European letters. T. S. Eliot described him as 'one of those few whose history is the history of their own time, who are part of the consciousness of an age which cannot be understood without them'. W. B. Yeats died in 1939.
Read more from W B Yeats
At the Hawk's Well Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Collected Poetry of William Butler Yeats Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Celtic Twilight: Faerie and Folklore Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Irish Fairy Tales and Folklore Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5W. B. Yeats – The Complete Collection Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsChangelings: Or, Beware Baby Snatchers of the Fairy Kingdom: Magical Creatures, A Weiser Books Collection Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Wild Swans At Coole & Other Poems: “What can be explained is not poetry.” Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Irish Fairy and Folk Tales Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Secret Rose: “There is another world, but it is in this one.” Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe W.B. Yeats Collection Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Dreaming of the Bones Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCalvary Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCathleen Ni Houlihan Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Essays On Art: "All empty souls tend toward extreme opinions." Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFairy Tales of Ireland Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEssays: "The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity." Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCeltic Twilight Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEssays On Poetry: "In dreams begins responsibility." Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Unicorn from the Stars and Other Plays Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Celtic Twilight Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The King's Threshold: “Life is a long preparation for something that never happens.” Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBest-Loved Yeats Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Countess Cathleen Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5On Baile's Strand Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Deirdre Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5
Related to The Countess Cathleen
Related ebooks
The Countess Cathleen Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Countess Cathleen Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Countess Cathleen Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Countess Cathleen: 'She'd sleep that trouble away—'' Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Countess Cathleen: “The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper.” Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Works in Verse and Prose: III Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNestlings: A Collection of Poems Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFairy Realm: A Collection of the Favourite Old Tales Told in Verse Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPoet Tree Book Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Five Plays Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Old Songs Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTwo Mothers Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTwo Mothers Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCountry Sentiment Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsChristmas Roses Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Hour Glass: 'What do you know about wisdom?'' Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Hour Glass Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPeacock Pie, a Book of Rhymes Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsKittens and Cats: A First Reader Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAnytime Nursery Rhymes Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Gathering of the Leaves: Poems by Anastasia Chauny and Graham Isaak Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Complete Euripides Collection Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBeneath the Misty Surface Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Quiet Woman in a Quiet House Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Tempers Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Land of Heart's Desire: 'When but the moons of marriage dawn and die'' Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Keepsake or, Poems and Pictures for Childhood and Youth Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGrubby Maids and Glass Slippers: An Opinionated Essay on Cinderella From a Disgruntled Narrator: Snarktales From Fairyland, #1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMedea and Other Plays Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Performing Arts For You
A Midsummer Night's Dream, with line numbers Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Yes Please Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Science of Storytelling: Why Stories Make Us Human and How to Tell Them Better Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Becoming Free Indeed: My Story of Disentangling Faith from Fear Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes: Revised and Complete Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Importance of Being Earnest: A Play Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Robin Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5For colored girls who have considered suicide/When the rainbow is enuf Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hollywood's Dark History: Silver Screen Scandals Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Macbeth (new classics) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lucky Dog Lessons: From Renowned Expert Dog Trainer and Host of Lucky Dog: Reunions Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Our Town: A Play in Three Acts Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hamlet Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Coreyography: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Unsheltered: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Diamond Eye: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Romeo and Juliet Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wuthering Heights Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Trial Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Storyworthy: Engage, Teach, Persuade, and Change Your Life through the Power of Storytelling Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Dolls House Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Woman Is No Man: A Read with Jenna Pick Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Quite Nice and Fairly Accurate Good Omens Script Book: The Script Book Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Best Women's Monologues from New Plays, 2020 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Stories I Only Tell My Friends: An Autobiography Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Whale / A Bright New Boise Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Story: Style, Structure, Substance, and the Principles of Screenwriting Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Count Of Monte Cristo (Unabridged) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for The Countess Cathleen
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
The Countess Cathleen - W B Yeats
THE COUNTESS CATHLEEN
..................
W. B. Yeats
KYPROS PRESS
Thank you for reading. In the event that you appreciate this book, please consider sharing the good word(s) by leaving a review, or connect with the author.
This book is a work of fiction; its contents are wholly imagined.
All rights reserved. Aside from brief quotations for media coverage and reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced or distributed in any form without the author’s permission. Thank you for supporting authors and a diverse, creative culture by purchasing this book and complying with copyright laws.
Copyright © 2015 by W. B. Yeats
Interior design by Pronoun
Distribution by Pronoun
TABLE OF CONTENTS
The Countess Cathleen
SCENE 1
SCENE 2
SCENE 3
SCENE 4
SCENE 5
THE COUNTESS CATHLEEN
..................
SCENE 1
..................
SCENE—A ROOM WITH LIGHTED FIRE, and a door into the open air, through which one sees, perhaps, the trees of a wood, and these trees should be painted in flat colour upon a gold or diapered sky. The walls are of one colour. The scene should have the effect of missal Painting. MARY, a woman of forty years or so, is grinding a quern.
MARY. What can have made the grey hen flutter so?
(TEIG, a boy of fourteen, is coming in with turf, which he lays beside the hearth.)
TEIG. They say that now the land is famine struck The graves are walking.
MARY. There is something that the hen hears.
TEIG. And that is not the worst; at Tubber-vanach A woman met a man with ears spread out, And they moved up and down like a bat’s wing.
MARY. What can have kept your father all this while?
TEIG. Two nights ago, at Carrick-orus churchyard, A herdsman met a man who had no mouth, Nor eyes, nor ears; his face a wall of flesh; He saw him plainly by the light of the moon.
MARY. Look out, and tell me if your father’s coming.
(TEIG goes to door.)
TEIG. Mother!
MARY. What is it?
TEIG. In the bush beyond, There are two birds—if you can call them birds— I could not see them rightly for the leaves. But they’ve the shape and colour of horned owls And I’m half certain they’ve a human face.
MARY. Mother of God, defend us!
TEIG. They’re looking at me. What is the good of praying? father says. God and the Mother of God have dropped asleep. What do they care, he says, though the whole land Squeal like a rabbit under a weasel’s tooth?
MARY. You’ll bring misfortune with your blasphemies Upon your father, or yourself, or me. I would to God he were home—ah, there he is.
(SHEMUS comes in.)
What was it kept you in the wood? You know I cannot get all sorts of accidents Out of my mind till you are home again.
SHEMUS. I’m in no mood to listen to your clatter. Although I tramped the woods for half a day, I’ve taken nothing, for the very rats, Badgers, and hedgehogs seem to have died of drought, And there was scarce a wind in the parched leaves.
TEIG. Then you have brought no dinner.
SHEMUS. After that I sat among the beggars at the cross-roads, And held a hollow hand among the others.
MARY. What, did you beg?
SHEMUS. I had no chance to beg, For when the beggars saw me they cried out They would not have another share their alms, And hunted me away with sticks and stones.
TEIG. You said that you would bring us food or money.
SHEMUS. What’s in the house?
TEIG. A bit of mouldy bread.
MARY. There’s flour enough to make another loaf.
TEIG. And when that’s gone?
MARY. There is the hen in the coop.
SHEMUS. My curse upon the beggars, my Curse upon them!
TEIG. And the last penny gone.
SHEMUS. When the hen’s gone, What can we do but live on sorrel and dock) And dandelion, till our mouths are green?
MARY. God, that to this hour’s found bit and sup, Will cater for us still.