DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.51521#0090
( 8-2 )
and I went away hoping that my persecution would not
be as long as Manet’s.
And it was perhaps the belief that England was no
more susceptible to art than France that inclined me to
lend a willing ear to Mr. Yeats and Edward Martyn. “We
shall meet with no prejudices in Dublin.” And the argu-
ment seeming to me reasonable, I took charge of the re-
hearsals of Yeats’play, entitled “The Countess Kathleen,”
and we had an experienced stage-manager to rehearse
Martyn’s “Heather Field.” And when our troop of mum-
mers knew their parts, Yeats and Lady Gregory and I
travelled over together to Dublin, leaving Martyn in
charge of the actors and actresses. He met them at Euston
and bought second-class tickets, travelling first himself,
which caused great wrath amid the mummers. However,
everybody arrived safe in Dublin, and the plays were
produced with acclamation and enthusiasm from the au-
diences. “Ireland has advanced,” I said to myself, “like
the rest of the world.” Heavy footsteps resounded on the
staircase and my door was flung open in great haste;
Martyn had come to tell me that the hierarchy were up
against the plays. They were led on by Cardinal Logue,
“but he admits he has not read the play, he only speaks
from hearsay.” Half-an-hour later we went out, and
Dublin being a small place, we soon came upon Yeats and
I said, “We are in the midst of a characteristic Dublin
squabble.” We were joined by others, and somebody said
and I went away hoping that my persecution would not
be as long as Manet’s.
And it was perhaps the belief that England was no
more susceptible to art than France that inclined me to
lend a willing ear to Mr. Yeats and Edward Martyn. “We
shall meet with no prejudices in Dublin.” And the argu-
ment seeming to me reasonable, I took charge of the re-
hearsals of Yeats’play, entitled “The Countess Kathleen,”
and we had an experienced stage-manager to rehearse
Martyn’s “Heather Field.” And when our troop of mum-
mers knew their parts, Yeats and Lady Gregory and I
travelled over together to Dublin, leaving Martyn in
charge of the actors and actresses. He met them at Euston
and bought second-class tickets, travelling first himself,
which caused great wrath amid the mummers. However,
everybody arrived safe in Dublin, and the plays were
produced with acclamation and enthusiasm from the au-
diences. “Ireland has advanced,” I said to myself, “like
the rest of the world.” Heavy footsteps resounded on the
staircase and my door was flung open in great haste;
Martyn had come to tell me that the hierarchy were up
against the plays. They were led on by Cardinal Logue,
“but he admits he has not read the play, he only speaks
from hearsay.” Half-an-hour later we went out, and
Dublin being a small place, we soon came upon Yeats and
I said, “We are in the midst of a characteristic Dublin
squabble.” We were joined by others, and somebody said