Rooted in myth, occult mysteries, and belief in magic, these stories are populated by a lively cast of sorcerers, fairies, ghosts, and nature spiri...
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May 18, 2011
Alex
rated it: 
In his youth, Yeats was a member of the Golden Dawn, an occult society; he wrote this book during that time, and it's widely seen as a manifesto about his belief in faeries and magic and such. And it is that - but it's not what you think. When he says
He's saying that he beli More...
"Let us go forth, the tellers of tales, and sieze whatever prey the heart long for, and have no fear. Everything exists, everything is true, and the earth is only a little dust under our feet." (p. 4)
He's saying that he beli More...
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Feb 28, 2009
Cwn_annwn_13
rated it: 
Yeats compiled these stories from various Irish hillbillies in the 1890s. I am a lover of all things Celtic as well as a lover of folklore, local legends, ghost stories, faerie lore, etc, but surprisingly I just didn't get sucked into this book like I thought I would.
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Aug 03, 2007
Rodney
rated it:
You can have your cones and interpenetrating gyres; for me, the unguarded, soppy Romanticism of The Celtic Twilight, based on the diaries the young Yeats kept as he tromped through Irish village life, is the best guide to the obsessions and occult yearnings that animate his poetry, early & late. The anecdotes and rambling asides capture the poet in his native habitat, head in the clouds and feet in the bog of an Ireland that never quite was, but that he needed to shake off the bluff rationalism
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Sep 01, 2009
Tifany
rated it:
A definite must-read for anyone interested in fairy tales, especially the Irish sort, as I've never found anything better. Yeats, of course, should be read for his own sake, anyway, and if you want more Yeats, go for MYTHOLOGIES, the version that includes both the Celtic Twilight and Yeats' own retellings, in prose, of Irish epic stories, as well as his own original tales. There's another Yeats collection of traditional tales--Irish Folk and Fairy Stories--that also includes the Celtic Twiligh
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Jan 28, 2011
Charlie
rated it:
This is an excellent collection of folklore, but Yeats' presentation is about so much more. This book does an excellent job of deriding the rationalism and skepticism of his day (and ours). The magical universe is an exciting place, and a place in the modern world needs to be carved out for it.
There are overtones of spirituality throughout most of the tales. The best parts are the events that the writer claims he experienced. These stories would fit right into any book on trances, as More...
There are overtones of spirituality throughout most of the tales. The best parts are the events that the writer claims he experienced. These stories would fit right into any book on trances, as More...
Apr 30, 2011
Derek
rated it: 
Maybe it really deserves a full five stars, but it could use a little more tightening and underlying coherence -- even if it is one man's idiosyncratic collection of local stories on the faerie people of Ireland. Forget that , though. Yeats' mind walking the ridge between reason and acceptance of the marvelous-unlikely is a wonder to read. He pinpoints the population's strangely accepting outlook on the "other" people of the countryside, who live just beyond visibility and seem to turn
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Aug 02, 2011
Kathy L.
rated it:
At the turn of the 19th century, Yeats and friends collected any and all Irish folktales they could find from the rapidly dwindling rural, Gaeilge-speaking population. Celtic Twilight is part poet's journal, ghostbuster's psychic investigation dossier, and part ethnographer's field notes. Yeats presents a the variety of Good People and shades who inhabit the Other Realms. At times, Yeats convincingly reproduces the narrators' voices, at others, the material inspires his own poetry.
But the More...
But the More...
Aug 12, 2009
Melanie
rated it:
I'm a big fairy tale/folklore person, but I didn't like this book. Yeats was so condescending towards the Irish that I just couldn't take it. If I hadn't had to read this book for a class, I wouldn't have finished it. But there are some good stories in there.
May 07, 2011
Sarah Jane
rated it:
I didn't expect to like this book, but I ended up really enjoying it. Yeats attempts, not entirely successfully, to objectively document numerous Irish folktales about faeries and magic. Yeats obviously has a deep respect for these stories and people. The book takes a few chapters to get into, but in the end it's definitely worth reading. Nice and short, too.
Jul 08, 2009
Kelsey
rated it:
As the title suggests - this is ethereal to the max. I highlighted so many quotes out of this one. I loved it. I'm not a huge poetry person, but this one spoke to me.
May 24, 2011
Martha
rated it:
Never truly been a fan of Yeats, however, I did like this book because I adore Celtic folklore and faerie tales.
Dec 17, 2009
Rodney
rated it:
You can have your cones and interpenetrating gyres; for me, the unguarded, soppy Romanticism of The Celtic Twilight, based on the diaries the young Yeats kept as he tromped through Irish village life, is the best guide to the obsessions and occult yearnings that animate his poetry, early & late. The anecdotes and rambling asides capture the poet in his native habitat, head in the clouds and feet in the bog of an Ireland that never quite was, but that he needed to shake off the bluff rationalism
More...
Dec 17, 2009
Rodney
rated it:
You can have your cones and interpenetrating gyres; for me, the unguarded, soppy Romanticism of The Celtic Twilight, based on the diaries the young Yeats kept as he tromped through Irish village life, is the best guide to the obsessions and occult yearnings that animate his poetry, early & late. The anecdotes and rambling asides capture the poet in his native habitat, head in the clouds and feet in the bog of an Ireland that never quite was, but that he needed to shake off the bluff rationalism
More...
Mar 28, 2011
Carlos
rated it:
Excelente ponte entre a antiga mitologia celta e o folklore em volta das fadas por Yeats.
Jun 24, 2010
Ben
rated it: 
A good read; it's a collection of vignettes that Yeats collected from the countryside of Ireland.
Apr 13, 2011
Jonathan
rated it:
"Everything exists, everything is true, and the earth is only a little dust under our feet."
Amazing read.
Amazing read.
May 18, 2008
Chris
rated it:
I almost gave this book only 4 stars, but then I remembered the cultural/ historical context in which Yeat's was writing. This truly remarkable collection of oral accounts of the Irish fairy faith is even more remarkable in light of the fact that Yeats wrote this book during the reason-obsessed dawn of the modern age.
May 04, 2008
Brent
rated it:
An interesting piece of prose work from a man known as being a great poet. Yeats' book is full of lyrical insights and odd stories that display his fascination with the mystical and occult.
Aug 18, 2011
Gobnait
rated it:
This book contained a few good stories and even a few enjoyable quotes. However, what was chosen for this book was uneven and even at times dull. It was not at all what I had expected.
Nov 05, 2007
Chris
rated it:
A great collection of folklore, especially tales of the now oh-so-hard to see, but none the less interesting 'little folk'.
Jul 06, 2007
Natasha
rated it:
I wrote a paper on this book in London and never actually read it. Don't tell Dean. I'm sure its great.
Feb 12, 2012
Feb 12, 2012
Feb 12, 2012
