''The Land of Heart's Desire'' is a play by Irish poet, dramatist, and 1923 Nobel laureate

William Butler Yeats William Butler Yeats (, 13 June 186528 January 1939), popularly known as W. B. Yeats, was an Irish poet, dramatist, writer, and literary critic who was one of the foremost figures of 20th century in literature, 20th-century literature. He was ...

. First performed in the spring of 1894, at the Avenue Theatre in London, where it ran for a little over six weeks,Yeats, William Butler. 1903
''The Land of Heart's Desire''
it was the first professional performance of one of Yeats' plays.

Summary

In this theatrical lament on age and thwarted aspirations, a faery child encounters the newlyweds Shawn and Maire Bruin at their home, shared with Maurteen Bruin and Bridget Bruin, Shawn's parents. The child, who at first is thought of by the Bruins as of gentle birth, denounces God and shocks Father Hart. She expounds on the ephemeral nature of life, in a bid to entice the newly-wed Maire to leave with her to the world of faery:

You shall go with me, newly-married bride, And gaze upon a merrier multitude. White-armed Nuala, Aengus of the Birds, Feacra of the hurtling foam, and him Who is the ruler of the Western Host, Finvarra, and their Land of Heart's Desire, Where beauty has no ebb, decay no flood, But joy is wisdom, Time an endless song. I kiss you and the world begins to fade.

Shawn implores the previously listless Maire to remain in the real world, but she dies in his arms, surrendering herself to the laughter and eternal, youthful dance of the otherworld, and to the seductive draw of immortality and mindless joy.

Characters

* Maurteen Bruin * Shawn Bruin * Father Hart * Bridget Bruin * Maire Bruin * A Faery Child

Influence

The play's title is included on the

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

County Sligo County Sligo ( , ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Northern and Western Region and is part of the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht. Sligo is the administrative capital and largest town in ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

; where the play is set. The county featured in many of his earlier works and, in accordance with his wishes, Yeats was re-buried in 1948 at

Drumcliff Drumcliff or Drumcliffe () is a village in County Sligo, Ireland. It is north of Sligo, Sligo town on the N15 road (Ireland), N15 road on a low gravel ridge between the mountain of Ben Bulben and Drumcliff Bay. It is on the Drumcliff River, o ...

, a village overlooked by Ben Bulben. The title of the album '' Like a Flame'' by

Frederik Magle Frederik Reesen Magle (; born 17 April 1977) is a Danish composer, concert organist, and pianist. He writes contemporary classical music as well as fusion of classical music and other genres. His compositions include orchestral works, cantatas ...

is derived from a quote from ''The Land of Heart's Desire''.Like a Flame
(magle.dk). Retrieved on 4 May 2012

References

External links

Full text of ''The Land of Heart's Desire''
on the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

Synopsis of ''The Land of Heart's Desire''
from Alice Fort and Herbert Kates, ''Minute History of the Drama'', 1935, p. 117. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Land Of Heart's Desire, The Plays by W. B. Yeats 1894 plays