Two Plays for Dancers

By W B Yeats

"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.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Interactive Media
• Release date: Feb 4, 2019
• ISBN: 9781787360150

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.

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W. B. Yeats

Two Plays for Dancers

Published by Sovereign

This edition first published in 2019

Copyright © 2019 Sovereign

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

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