f
this close contact was five of the greatest poetic prose dramas not
only of his own generation, but of several generations preceding it.
(See Preface.)

In _Riders to the Sea_ (1903), _The Well of the Saints_ (1905), and
_The Playboy of the Western World_ (1907) we have a richness of
imagery, a new language startling in its vigor, a wildness and passion
that contrast strangely with the suave mysticism and delicate
spirituality of his associates in the Irish Theatre.

Synge's _Poems and Translations_ (1910), a volume which was not issued
until after his death, contains not only his few hard and earthy
verses, but also Synge's theory of poetry. The translations, which
have been rendered in a highly intensified prose, are as racy as
anything in his plays; his versions of Villon and Petrarch are
remarkable for their adherence to the original and still radiate the
poet's own personality.

Synge died, just as he was beginning to attain fame, at a private
hospital in Dublin March 24, 1909.

BEG-INNISH

Bring Kateen-beug and Maurya Jude
To dance in Beg-Innish,[13]
And when the lads (they're in Dunquin)
Have sold their crabs and fish,
Wave fawny shawls and call them in,
And call the little girls who spin,
And seven weavers from Dunquin,
To dance in Beg-Innish.

I'll play you jigs, and Maurice Kean,
Where nets are laid to dry,
I've silken strings would draw a dance
From girls are lame or shy;
Four strings I've brought from Spain and France
To make your long men skip and prance,
Till stars look out to see the dance
Where nets are laid to dry.

We'll have no priest or peeler in
To dance in Beg-Innish;
But we'll have drink from M'riarty Jim
Rowed round while gannets fish,
A keg with porter to the brim,
That every lad may have his whim,
Till we up sails with M'riarty Jim
And sail from Beg-Innish.

A TRANSLATION FROM PETRARCH

(_He is Jealous of the Heavens and the Earth_)

What a grudge I am bearing the earth that has its arms about her, and
is holding that face away from me, where I was finding peace from
great sadness.

What a grudge I am bearing the Heavens that are after taking her, and
shutting her in with greediness, the Heavens that do push their bolt
against so many.

What a grudge I am bearing the blessed saints that have got her sweet
company, that I am always seeking; and what a grudge I am beari