The Curse of the Fires and of the Shadows
A violent incursion against a sacred refuge sets in motion a chain of supernatural retribution. A regiment of troopers breaks into a hallowed sanctuary where religious converts have gathered. Despite the power inherent in their symbols—holy candles and a crucifix—the defenders are brutally massacred. In the midst of the bloodshed, a prophetic curse is uttered by the high priest figure as his dying cry condemns the attackers to a fate marked by chaotic, ungovernable fires and restless, ominous shadows. The ensuing narrative follows the troopers as they flee through a dense, moonlit forest steeped in foreboding and spectral manifestations. Along their journey, the boundary between the natural and the supernatural blurs. They encounter eerie apparitions including reflective images of themselves in a river beside a ghostly, water-washed corpse, and a mysterious old woman outputting cryptic clues. The troopers, bound together by wartime camaraderie and haunted by the memories of past conflicts, are forced to reconcile the realities of mortal combat with inexplicable, mythic forces that pervade their surroundings. As they traverse the woods, the group confronts a series of strange and disorienting phenomena: the sound of a distant bagpipe, the sight of flickering fires and dancing shadows, and voices that evoke both memory and prophecy. A spectral guide, emerging from the gloom, directs them with erratic urgency toward a path marked by further omens of doom, while the natural world itself becomes animated with a life that suggests the presence of ancient, otherworldly powers. The narrative interweaves historical violence with enduring myth and elemental terror. The attackers’ initial sacrilege against a bastion of spiritual light transforms into a harbinger of widespread chaos where every shadow and flicker of flame seems imbued with vengeful intent. This blending of brutal human actions with a mystical, almost uncontrollable force of nature reinforces the central theme: the disruption of the sacred inevitably unleashes cosmic consequences. The text portrays a landscape where each act of violence draws forth a relentless, supernatural retribution—a curse that strips away human control and leaves its perpetrators to wander amidst ungovernable forces. Ultimately, the work emerges as a meditation on the price of impiety and transgression against the divine. It is a journey, both physical and metaphysical, into a realm where the rules of mortal life are subverted by the ancient and inexorable powers of myth and fate, signaling that human violence against sacred institutions is met with a legacy of ruin and eternal torment.
By W.B. Yeats · First published 1939 · Genre: Supernatural Fiction, Gothic Fiction, Historical Fantasy · 2,868 words
First lines
One summer night, when there was peace, a score of Puritan troopers / under the pious Sir Frederick Hamilton, broke through the door of the / Abbey of the White Friars which stood over the Gara Lough at Sligo. As / the door fell with a crash they saw a little knot of friars, gathered / about the altar, their white habits glimmering in the steady light of / the holy candles. All the monks were kneeling except the abbot, who / stood upon the altar steps with a great brazen crucifix in his hand. / 'Shoot them! ' cried Sir Frederick Hamilton, but none stirred, for all / were new converts, and feared the crucifix and the holy candles. The / white lights from the altar threw the shadows of the troopers up on / to roof and wall. As the troopers moved about, the shadows began a / fantastic dance among the corbels and the memorial tablets. For a little / while all was silent, and then five troopers who were the body-guard of / Sir Frederick Hamilton lifted their muskets, and shot down five of the / friars. The noise and the smoke drove away the mystery of the pale altar / lights, and the other troopers took courage and began to strike. In a / moment the friars lay about the altar steps, their white habits stained / with blood. 'Set fire to the house! ' cried Sir Frederick Hamilton, / and at his word one went out, and came in again carrying a heap of dry / straw, and piled it against the western wall, and, having done this, / fell back, for the fear of the crucifix and of the holy candles / was still in his heart. Seeing this, the five troopers who were Sir / Frederick Hamilton's body-guard darted forward, and taking each a holy / candle set the straw in a blaze. The red tongues of fire rushed up and / flickered from corbel to corbel and from tablet to tablet, and crept / along the floor, setting in a blaze the seats and benches. The dance of / the shadows passed away, and the dance of the fires began. The troopers / fell back towards the door in the southern wall, and watched those / yellow dancers springing hither and thither.
What this Textopian page supports
The Curse of the Fires and of the Shadows is listed on Textopian as a short story by W.B. Yeats, dated 1939 CE.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Short story
- Author: W.B. Yeats
- Date: 1939 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Supernatural Fiction, Gothic Fiction, Historical Fantasy, Allegorical Fiction, Mythopoeia
- Length: 2,868 words
- Structure: 1 section, 9 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)
Good citation fit
- Work identity for The Curse of the Fires and of the Shadows by W.B. Yeats
- Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
- Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
- Readability and classroom-planning context
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Genres
- Supernatural Fiction — The narrative emphasizes unexplained phenomena such as dancing shadows, ungovernable fires, and ghostly apparitions.
- Gothic Fiction — The work features dark, eerie settings, intense atmospheres, and macabre, haunting imagery typical of the gothic tradition.
- Historical Fantasy — The story interweaves a historical context with fantastical elements, merging realistic details with mythic occurrences.
- Allegorical Fiction — Symbolic references and moral pronouncements permeate the text, offering layers of meaning beyond the literal events.
Tags
mystical · supernatural · symbolism · occult · folklore · mythology · esoteric · magical · visionary · otherworldly · transcendental · poetic