The Poetry of James Stephens

The Poetry of James Stephens

The Poetry of James Stephens by George William Russell is a collection of poems that explore themes of love, nature, and the human experience. The book includes works such as "The Fiddler of Dooney," "The Wind Among the Reeds," and "Insurrections." Stephens' poetry is known for its vivid imagery and use of Irish mythology and folklore.

By George William Russell · First published 1920 · Genre: Poetry, Literary Criticism, Irish Literature · 2,979 words

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For a generation the Irish bards have endeavored to live in a palace of art, in chambers hung with the embroidered cloths and made dim with pale lights and Druid twilights, and the melodies they most sought for were half soundless. The art of an early age began softly, to end its songs with a rhetorical blare of sound. The melodies of the new school began close to the ear and died away in distances of the soul. Even as the prophet of old was warned to take off his shoes because the place he stood on was holy ground, so it seemed for a while in Ireland as if no poet could be accepted unless he left outside the demesnes of poetry that very useful animal, the body, and lost all concern about its habits. He could not enter unless he moved with the light and dreamy foot-fall of spirit. Mr. Yeats was the chief of this eclectic school, and his poetry at its best is the most beautiful in Irish literature.

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The Poetry of James Stephens is listed on Textopian as a poem by George William Russell, dated 1920 CE.

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poetry · Irish literature · modernism · lyricism · nature · mythology · imagination · spirituality · folk themes · symbolism · narrative · emotion

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