The Hour Glass

Yeats, W. B. (William Butler), 1865-1939Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.8

Word count: 24K words
Chapters: 3

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.The Hour Glass by W. B. YeatsAuthor: Yeats, W. B. (William Butler), 1865-1939,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Feb 1, 2005

Editor's review

The Hour Glass is one of Yeats's few plays. Brief as it is, it concentrates his twin concerns with dramatic form and moral questions. The play unfolds in an allegorical structure, with typed characters, rhythmically considered dialogue, and spare but meaningful stage directions; even away from the theatre, readers can feel a tension that is almost ritual. Its value lies in showing how Yeats compresses poetic language into a limited dramatic space, using the least action to carry the largest debate. For readers familiar with Yeats's poetry, this work is an important supplement to understanding his ideas of drama; for anyone studying Irish literature and the twentieth-century little-theatre movement, it is also an indispensable link. It is best read as a text to be spoken aloud and performed, not merely as literature for silent reading.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers familiar with Yeats's poetry who wish to understand his dramatic work
Students and teachers of Irish literature or the twentieth-century little-theatre movement
Theatre enthusiasts who enjoy short allegorical plays and are willing to read scripts aloud
Literary readers interested in poetic dialogue and symbolic structure

Not a good fit for

General fiction readers expecting a full plot and character development
Beginners hoping to gain a comprehensive understanding of Yeats's life and thought from one book
Readers unaccustomed to reading play formats and stage directions

Reading tips

First read through once to grasp the structure, then read aloud by role to feel the rhythm and pauses of the dialogue.
While reading, pay attention to the stage directions and the typed characters; they carry a considerable part of the meaning.
You may compare it with Yeats's repeated writing on ideal and reality in his poems to understand the debate in the play.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this poetry or a play by Yeats?

This is a short play script, with characters, dialogue, and stage directions. It belongs to Yeats's dramatic work, not a poetry collection. When reading, you need to follow the script format to understand scenes and actions.

Can I read it without experience reading drama?

Yes. It is short, has few characters, and is clearly structured. It is advisable to learn the basic script format first, then try reading aloud by role; this makes it easier to enter the situation than silent reading.

Do I need to understand Yeats's intellectual background before reading this play?

Systematic study beforehand is not necessary, but some familiarity with the recurring conflict between ideal and reality in his poetry will make it easier to grasp the allegorical debate in the play. On a first reading, focus on the tension of the dialogue itself.

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About the author

Yeats, W. B. (William Butler), 1865-1939 Author

William Butler Yeats (1865–1939) was an Irish poet and playwright and a major figure in twentieth-century English-language literature. The collection holds thirty-eight of his works, including poetry collections, prose and plays, among them Responsibilities, and other poems, The Wind Among the Reeds, The Wild Swans at Coole, The Celtic Twilight, The Trembling of the Veil, and the multi-volume The Collected Works in Verse and Prose of William Butler Yeats. His verse is concise and musical, often drawing on Irish myth, folklore and Celtic culture, and blending symbolism and reflection with the lyric tradition; his style moved from an early romantic and aesthetic manner toward a later, firmer and more austere voice. His writing is closely associated with the Irish literary revival and has deeply influenced modern English poetry. Public information is limited, and this introduction is based mainly on the works held in the collection.