In The Celtic Twilight, Yeats attributes much of his work to Paddy Flynn. Yeats’ initially description of Paddy Flynn is not a negative one, however it gives a sense of the “Other”. He is first seen “bent over a can of mushrooms” and then “asleep under a hedge” (Yeats, The Celtic Twilight, 5). These are signs of a domesticity that are foreign to that of the English audience reading Yeats’ collection. The man seems primitive in nature, and Yeats’ description of his eyes as that of a rabbit’s and his cheerful demeanor masking a melancholy “of purely instinctive natures and of all animals” is of no help (Yeats, The Celtic Twilight, 5). Flynn is not depicted as a monster, but he is not depicted as a human either; he is strange, wild, and embedded in nature. He speaks of unfamiliar and unseen worlds, does not relate to children, and sleeps under a shrub even though he owns a “leaky and one-roomed cabin” (Yeats, The Celtic Twilight, 5). Afterwards, in his autobiography, Yeats admits that he has acquired many stories in The Celtic Twilight from another woman: Mary Battle. Once again, Yeats’ portrays the storyteller as different. Mary Battle is not directly likened to an animal or other source of nature; rather, Yeats describes “her mind… [as one] rammed with every sort of old history and strange belief” (Yeats, Autobiographies, 84). Again, the description of Battle is not necessarily a negative one. On the contrary, she is associated with Yeats’ childhood and even his own mother, who related stories like hers in the past. However, the “ceremonial magic” that she engages in is still labeled as a “strange belief” (Yeats, Autobiographies, 83). In other words, Yeats sees a difference between himself and the storytellers. He sees them as
In The Celtic Twilight, Yeats attributes much of his work to Paddy Flynn. Yeats’ initially description of Paddy Flynn is not a negative one, however it gives a sense of the “Other”. He is first seen “bent over a can of mushrooms” and then “asleep under a hedge” (Yeats, The Celtic Twilight, 5). These are signs of a domesticity that are foreign to that of the English audience reading Yeats’ collection. The man seems primitive in nature, and Yeats’ description of his eyes as that of a rabbit’s and his cheerful demeanor masking a melancholy “of purely instinctive natures and of all animals” is of no help (Yeats, The Celtic Twilight, 5). Flynn is not depicted as a monster, but he is not depicted as a human either; he is strange, wild, and embedded in nature. He speaks of unfamiliar and unseen worlds, does not relate to children, and sleeps under a shrub even though he owns a “leaky and one-roomed cabin” (Yeats, The Celtic Twilight, 5). Afterwards, in his autobiography, Yeats admits that he has acquired many stories in The Celtic Twilight from another woman: Mary Battle. Once again, Yeats’ portrays the storyteller as different. Mary Battle is not directly likened to an animal or other source of nature; rather, Yeats describes “her mind… [as one] rammed with every sort of old history and strange belief” (Yeats, Autobiographies, 84). Again, the description of Battle is not necessarily a negative one. On the contrary, she is associated with Yeats’ childhood and even his own mother, who related stories like hers in the past. However, the “ceremonial magic” that she engages in is still labeled as a “strange belief” (Yeats, Autobiographies, 83). In other words, Yeats sees a difference between himself and the storytellers. He sees them as