Few realise that English poetry is rather like the British constitution, surrounded by pompous precedents and reverences. Austin Clarke More Quotes by Austin Clarke More Quotes From Austin Clarke When I first discovered for myself the Celtic Twilight and read the earlier poems of Yeats and others, all was entirely incomprehensible to me. I groped through a mist of blurred meanings, stumbled through lines in which every accent seemed to be in the wrong place. Austin Clarke wrong place myself me Assonance is not the enemy of rhyme. It helps us to respect rhyme, which has been spoiled by mechanical use. Austin Clarke us spoiled respect enemy Yeats regarded his work as the close of an epoch, and the least of his later lyrics brings the sense of a great occasion. English critics have tried to claim him for their tradition, but, heard closely, his later music has that tremulous lyrical undertone which can be found in the Anglo-Irish eloquence of the eighteenth century. Austin Clarke great tradition music work In these days of our new materialistic Irish state, poetry will have a harder, less picturesque task. But the loss of Yeats and all that boundless activity, in a country where the mind is feared and avoided, leaves a silence which it is painful to contemplate. Austin Clarke silence poetry mind country Few in the Nineties would have ventured to prophesy that the remote dim singer of the Celtic Twilight would, in a new age, become the leading poet of the English-speaking world. None have disputed the claim of William Butler Yeats to that title. Austin Clarke singer new age world In expressing so completely his own type, Mr. Yeats presents us with the case for integrity. If we can express eventually our own scholastic mentality in verse, I believe that our art will lead us not towards, but away from, English art. Austin Clarke will integrity believe art Reform and exchange in English poetry are as slow as in the British constitution itself. Austin Clarke slow english constitution poetry Irish poetry has lost the ready ear and the comforts of recognition. But we must go on. We must be true to our own minds. Austin Clarke true go recognition poetry In contrast to our sinking taste, there has been a revival of interest in verse drama in England, Scotland, and elsewhere. The movement has been slow but sure and, above all, modest in its demands. Austin Clarke slow movement taste drama Moral training in Ireland is severe and lasts until marriage. Even in childhood, we are taught by the pious clergy to battle against bad thoughts so that we may preserve our holy purity. Austin Clarke thoughts childhood training marriage Passion in Ireland is denounced as evil and obscene. Women are the snares set for us by the Devil. Austin Clarke women devil passion evil It takes us many years to learn that the passion for justice and the welfare of all, once it has been aroused, is the deepest one in moral life. Austin Clarke moral passion justice life
