A Teller of Tales - W B Yeats - 158 / 365 of reading one short story every day.

Yeats was not simply an observer of Irish folk belief. He came to it already very interested in the world of the occult, a thinker of the way of spirits, accepting of the reality of Irish experiences, and even having direct experience with the spirits themselves. He was influenced by the folktales of course but the rich and harsh landscapes of the country - moors, cliffs, deep forests - all contributed to his imagination.

According to many scholars, the three main threads of Yeats’ life and mind were:

Aestheticism

Nationalism

Occultism


A Teller of Tales - a part of the collection of stories called The Celtic Twilight.

The Celtic Twilight is divided into two parts. The first, was in 1902, but some pieces as early as 1892, are small notes or essays Yeats made in West Ireland when he was travelling or gathering stories from the local people.

The second part of the book are poems set in Ireland and relevant to his exploration of the spirit world of Ireland.

Yeats was not just a story or poem writer but a listener too. All the poems and the stories in this collection are as if heard or observed from others. Thus the teller is not Yeats but all those who contributed to him through their experiences , past folk tales and from his note taking. His favourite “character” was Paddy Flynn who suffered from old age, eccentricity and deafness, but experienced the full range of spirits and beings.

“He was a great teller of tales, and unlike our common romancers, knew how to empty heaven, hell, and purgatory, fairyland and earth, to people his stories.”

What makes this section of the book so interesting is Yeats’ participation in this quest of the spirit (mainly fairy) world. He tells us:

“. . . in Ireland there is something of timid affection between man and spirit. Each admits the other side to have feelings. There are points beyond which neither will go.”

Yet a couple times he has people tell him how they deal with the fairy world:

“They always mind their own affairs and I always mind mine.”

The Celtic Twilight is a book of encounters. The encounters Yeats writes of are the meetings between the Irish folk and native people and the faeries.