Abstract
A promising development,in recent literature is a movement known as the Irish Literary Revival. Begun in the last quarter of the nineteenth century, this movement progressed rapidly and has already made notable contributions to contemporary Catholic literature. The first work to attract widespread attention was Poems and Ballads of Young Ireland. This collection appeared in 1888 and was succeeded by other works of a high literary value. |Among the writers in the modern Irish Literary Revival, one of the most important poets and one of its best dramatists is Mr. Padraic Colum. Besides poems and dramas, this author has written sketches, novels, essays, criticisms, descriptions, fairy stories, studies in folklore, all of them manifestations of a rich and fertile mind. Although our author is skilled at all types, it is in his poetry that the comprehensiveness of the poet's vision, the ecstasy and concentration of his message lies. In his poems chiefly we find that magic and charm of the Celt. |It is our purpose in this work to show how the magic and charm attributed by Matthew Arnold to the Celt is brought out in the works of the poet we have selected, Mr. Padraic Colum. We feel that any information which the writer has obtained through personal communication, study of the poems, criticisms, and conversations with such as know the Irish customs and habits will be of interest to our readers. |The chapter following this introduction will deal with Celtic poetry as described by Matthew Arnold in his criticisms showing the literary virtues and characteristics of the Celt, especially his magic and charm. Chapter two will include a brief biography of Mr. Padraic Colum and the influence his life and environment have had on his writings. The greater portion of this study, however, will consist of an attempt to interpret Mr. Padraic Colum's poems in the light of their magic and charm. A chapter will be devoted to each group of poems: Dramatic Legends. Wild Earth. Other Lands and Seas. Creatures, and Old Pastures.