THE WRITINGS OF JAMES STEPHENS By the same author THE DREAM PHYSICIAN, by Edward Martyn (editor) EDUCATION FOR THE ITINERANT STUDENT JAMES STEPHENS Photograph by courtesy of Mrs Iris Wise THE WRITINGS OF JAMES STEPHENS
Variations on a Theme of Love
Patricia 11cFate © Patricia McFate 1979 Softcover reprint ofthe hardcover 1st edition 1979 978-1-349-16029-7 All rights reserved, No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without permission
First published 1979 by THE MACMILLAN PRESS LTD London and Basingstoke Assoeiated eompanies in Delhi Dublin Hong Kong Johannesburg Lagos Melbourne New rork Singapore Tokyo
Typeset in (;reat Britain hy SANTYPE LTD, SALISBURY
British Library Cataloguing in PublicatioD Data
McFate, Patricia The writings of James Stephens I, Stephens, James, b, 1882~Criticism and interpretation I. Title 821 ',9'1 2 PR6037,T4 Z ISBN 978-1-349-16029-7 ISBN 978-1-349-16027-3 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-16027-3
This book is sold suhjeet to the standard eonditions 01 the Net Book Agreement For Mary Bliss McFate and Warren Cheston Contents
Acknowled,gements x Chronology xu
Stephens: the Man, the Writer, the Enigma
2 The Dance of Life 23
3 The Quest that Destiny Commands 58
4 Make it Sing/Make it New 88
5 The Art and Craft of Prose 120 6 The Marriage of the Contraries 142
Notes and Riferences 155 Selected Bibliography 168 Index of Works by James Stephens 173 General Index 178 Acknowledgements
Many people have contributed to this book, but none so much as Iris and Norman Wise. Their kindness and help have been a constant encouragement. Indeed, the book would not have been possible without the aid of Iris Wise; she has been most generous with her time and her information. Professor Richard Finneran has also been obliging to me in many ways. It was through his good offices that I first met Mr. and Mrs. Wise, and I wish to thank him particularly for that courtesy. His edition of the Stephens Letters has been consulted frequently in the writing of the book; and his chronology is one of the sources for the one which appears in this volume. The initial research for this book has been aided immeasur- ably by Dr. Lola Szladits, Curator, the Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of the New York Public Library. Professor Daniel Murphy has offered invaluable assistance with my research in Ireland. Professor Richard Ellmann has served as mentor, critic of my work, and good friend for many years. Others who, in the past and present, have given freely of their time and to whom I am indebted include M. L. Rosenthal, Liam Miller, Maurice Harmon, William Feeney, Donald Torchiana, the late John Gordan, Vivian Mercier, Janet Fendrych, Mrs. Thomas Bodkin, Mervyn Wall, Marjorie Wynn, Michael Hanlon, Kenneth Goldstein, James McNulty, Acknowledgements Xl
and David Parson. My indebtedness to Sarkes Tarzian IS beyond recompense. For her participation in the bibliographical aspects of the study, lowe a debt of gratitude to Doretta Fuhs. I wish to thank Pam Gennusa, Loretta Dentley, and Miriam Boykin for cheerfully typing the many drafts of these chapters. The research support p.rovided by the Office of the Chancel- lor and the Graduate College of the University of Illinois at Chicago Circle and the staff support in the Office of the Vice Provost of the University of Pennsylvania are grate- fully acknowledged. The Staffs of the Berg Collection, the National Library of Ireland, Newberry Library of Chicago, Northwestern University Library, and the British Museum have been consistently helpful. The people to whom this book is dedicated provided the patience and understanding necessary to a writer. My mother and father encouraged me to begin my first studies of James Stephens fifteen years ago. Since that time, my mother and her family have given me more love and attention than I deserve. Warren Cheston is, in a real sense, responsible for the best parts of this book. For permission to quote from the printed works and manu- scripts of James Stephens, I am indebted to Mrs. Iris Wise; the Society of Authors, London; and the Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection, the New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations. Quotations from Letters rif James Stephens are reprinted by permission of Macmillan, London and Basingstoke. "And It Was Windy Weather" is reprinted with the permission of Macmillan Publishing Company, Inc., New York. Chronology
1880 (g February). Possible date of birth of James Stephens in Dublin. (2 February). Date of birth used by Stephens. Attended Meath Protestant Industrial School for Boys. 18g6 Employed as a clerk by a Dublin solicitor, Mr. Wallace. Igol On a gymnastic team which won the Irish Shield. Employed by Reddington & Sainsbury, solicitors. Ig06 Employed as a clerk-typist in the office of T. T. Mecredy & Son, solicitors. Began regular contributions to Sinn Fein. Birth of stepdaugh ter, I ris, on 14 June; shortly thereafter announced that he had a wife, "Cynthia" (Millicent Josephine Gardiner Kavanagh, 22 May 1882-18 December Ig60). Discovered by George W. Russell (AE). Igog Acted in the Theatre of Ireland's two productions of Seumas O'Kelly's The Shuiler's Child. Birth of son, James Naoise, on 26 October. Insurrections. IgIO Acted in the Theatre of Ireland production of Gerald Macnamara's The Spurious Sovereign. Associated with David Houston, Thomas MacDonagh, and Padraic Colum in founding and editing the Irish. Review (published March Igl I-November 1914). Chronology xiii
19 I I Acted in Padraic 0 Conaire's Bairbre Ruadh. The Marriage oj Julia Elizabeth produced by the Theatre of Ireland. 19 12 The Charwoman's Daughter; The Hill of Vision; The Crock oj Gold. Received a commission from The Nation (London) to write a series of short stories. Moved to Paris. Another production of The Marriage oj Julia Elizabeth at the Hardwicke Street Theatre. The Crock oj Gold awarded the Polignac Prize. Here Are Ladies; Five New Poems. The Demi-Gods. Elected Unestablished Registrar of the National Gal- lery of Ireland. Songs from the Clay; The Adventures oj Seumas Beg! The Rocky Road to Dublin. Green Branches; The Insurrection in Dublin. Appointed Registrar of the National Gallery of Ire- land. Reincarnations . Married "Cynthia" (then a widow) in London on 14 May. The Wooing oj Julia Elizabeth (identical with The Mar- riage oj Julia Elizabeth) produced at the Abbey Theatre by the Dublin Drama League. One of a series of operations for gastric ulcers. Irish Fairy Tales. Arthur Griffith: Journalist and Statesman. Deirdre. Deirdre presented the medal for fiction at the Aonach Tailteann festival. Resigned from the National Gallery (effective 1925). Little Things; In the Land oj Youth. On lecture tour in America. Returned to London; shortly thereafter settled in the Kingsbury subu;b of London. To America for another lecture tour. A Poetry Recital; Christmas in Freelands. Collected Poems. Friendship with James Joyce commenced. Joyce sug- gested that Stephens complete Finnegans Wake if he was unable to do so; this proposal made more formally in 1929. First BBC broadcast. Lecturer at the Third Interna- xiv Chronology
tional Book Fair in Florence. Etched in Moonlight; On Prose and Verse. In Rumania; met Queen Marie. Trip to America; stay with W. T. H. Howe. Julia Elizabeth,' A Comedy in One Act; The Optimist; The Outcast. Trip to America; stay with Howe. Theme and Varia- tions. Trip to America; stay with Howe. How St. Patrick Saves the [rish; Strict Joy. Trip to America; stay with Howe. A founder member of the Irish Academy of Letters. 1933-35 Yearly lecture tours to America; visits with Howe. 1937 Began regular series of BBC broadcasts. Accidental death of son, James Naoise, on 24 December. 1938 Kings and the Moon. 1940 Moved to Woodside Chapel in Gloucestershire. 1942 Awarded British Civ:l List Pension. 1945 Returned to London. 1947 Awarded honorary D. Litt. degree from Dublin University (Trinity College). Final BBC broadcast. Death at Eversleigh on 26 December.