Quotes from workThe Land of Heart's Desire
The Land of Heart's Desire is a play by Irish poet, dramatist, and 1923 Nobel laureate William Butler Yeats. First performed in the spring of 1894, at the Avenue Theatre in London, where it ran for a little over six weeks, it was the first professional performance of one of Yeats' plays.In this theatrical lament on age and thwarted aspirations, a faery child encounters the newlyweds Shawn and Mary 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:
“The Land of Faery,
Where nobody gets old and godly and grave”
W.B. Yeats The Land of Heart's Desire
Source: The Land of Heart's Desire (1894), Lines 48–52
Context: The Land of Faery,
Where nobody gets old and godly and grave,
Where nobody gets old and crafty and wise,
Where nobody gets old and bitter of tongue.
