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Stories of Red Hanrahan, the Secret Rose, and Rosa Alchemica
Born and educated in Dublin, Ireland, William Butler Yeats (1865-1939) discovered early in his literary career a fascination with Irish folklore and the occult. Later awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1923, Yeats produced a vast collection of stories, songs, and poetry of Ireland's historical and legendary past. Red Hanrahan is a character that Yeats returned to frequently, his creation influenced heavily by Celtic folklore. In this collection, he appears in "Red Hanrahan", "The Twisting of the Rope", "Hanrahan and Cathleen The Daughter of Hoolihan", "Red Hanrahan's Curse", "Hanrahan's Vision", and "The Death of Hanrahan". Also included in this collection are "Dedication to A. E.", "To The Secret Rose", "The Crucifixion of the Outcast", "Out of the Rose", "The Wisdom of the King", "The Heart Of The Spring", "The Curse of the Fires and of the Shadows", "The Old Men of the Twilight", "Where There Is Nothing", "There Is God", "Of Costello The Proud", "Of Una The Daughter of Macdermot", "Of The Bitter Tongue", and Rose Alchemica.
- GenresFiction
92 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2010
3 people are currently reading
30 people want to read
About the author
W.B. Yeats
1,849Ìýbooks2,494ÌýfollowersWilliam Butler Yeats was an Irish poet and dramatist, and one of the foremost figures of 20th century literature. A pillar of both the Irish and British literary establishments, in his later years Yeats served as an Irish Senator for two terms. He was a driving force behind the Irish Literary Revival, and along with Lady Gregory and Edward Martyn founded the Abbey Theatre, serving as its chief during its early years. In 1923 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature for what the Nobel Committee described as "inspired poetry, which in a highly artistic form gives expression to the spirit of a whole nation." He was the first Irishman so honored. Yeats is generally considered one of the few writers who completed their greatest works after being awarded the Nobel Prize; such works include The Tower (1928) and The Winding Stair and Other Poems (1929).
Yeats was born and educated in Dublin but spent his childhood in County Sligo. He studied poetry in his youth, and from an early age was fascinated by both Irish legends and the occult. Those topics feature in the first phase of his work, which lasted roughly until the turn of the century. His earliest volume of verse was published in 1889, and those slow paced and lyrical poems display debts to Edmund Spenser and Percy Bysshe Shelley, as well as to the Pre-Raphaelite poets. From 1900, Yeats' poetry grew more physical and realistic. He largely renounced the transcendental beliefs of his youth, though he remained preoccupied with physical and spiritual masks, as well as with cyclical theories of life.
--from Wikipedia
Yeats was born and educated in Dublin but spent his childhood in County Sligo. He studied poetry in his youth, and from an early age was fascinated by both Irish legends and the occult. Those topics feature in the first phase of his work, which lasted roughly until the turn of the century. His earliest volume of verse was published in 1889, and those slow paced and lyrical poems display debts to Edmund Spenser and Percy Bysshe Shelley, as well as to the Pre-Raphaelite poets. From 1900, Yeats' poetry grew more physical and realistic. He largely renounced the transcendental beliefs of his youth, though he remained preoccupied with physical and spiritual masks, as well as with cyclical theories of life.
--from Wikipedia
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 3, 2020
landing between a 4 & a 4.5.
full post here:
I picked up this Dover edition intending to read only The Secret Rose and Rosa Alchemica, but never one to read just part of a book, I began with Yeats' Stories of Red Hanrahan, which starts like this:
"Hanrahan, the hedge schoolmaster, a tall, strong, red-haired young man, came into the barn where some of the men of the village were sitting on Samhain Eve."
I knew with just that opening sentence that something supernatural or at least strange was about to happen -- it's Samhain Eve after all. Let me say that I was not at all disappointed here. This first story of the six is key to what follows, a series of short tales that contain a blending of traditional, political, and mystical elements that weave their way through an entire Hanrahan story cycle. It also seems to have elements of the traditional Romantic quest, albeit one that is interior and suffused throughout with the occult.
The Secret Rose is described by the author himself as having "but one subject, the war of spiritual with natural order." In his dedication of this group of stories to A.E., aka George William Russell, Yeats notes that
"If a writer wishes to interest a certain people among whom he has grown up, or fancies he has a duty towards them, he may choose for the symbols of his art their legends, their history, their beliefs, their opinions.."
and goes on to say that "as this book is visionary, it is Irish for Ireland, which is still predominantly Celtic" and that it preserves "a gift of vision, which has died out among more hurried and more successful nations." These nine stories are like taking a mythical/mystical spin through history and tradition and they speak to an older wisdom, the knowledge of which only few are gifted and thus live a rather isolated life; sacrifices are made, and individuals take part in their own spiritual or mystical quests for the ideal. They were also my favorite part of this book.
After finishing The Secret Rose, I started researching what to look forward to in Rosa Alchemica , and realized that this Dover edition did not include either "The Tables of the Law" or "The Adoration of the Magi," so I picked up which does. More about that book later.
With Rosa Alchemica we delve deep into the realm of the mystical, the alchemical and the apocalyptic. This is the strangest of the three, for sure, taking me a very long time to work my way through. On that note, I have to say that this has been my first Yeats experience, and I do not claim to understand all of it, but I do have a newly-found reverence for Yeats scholars who do. Still, it was absolutely a trip to read, and this book was definitely an experience most fascinating and one I'll never forget. It took me a long time to go through this little book, stopping to check on various references here and there, but even with my limited understanding it is a book that I can certainly recommend.
full post here:
I picked up this Dover edition intending to read only The Secret Rose and Rosa Alchemica, but never one to read just part of a book, I began with Yeats' Stories of Red Hanrahan, which starts like this:
"Hanrahan, the hedge schoolmaster, a tall, strong, red-haired young man, came into the barn where some of the men of the village were sitting on Samhain Eve."
I knew with just that opening sentence that something supernatural or at least strange was about to happen -- it's Samhain Eve after all. Let me say that I was not at all disappointed here. This first story of the six is key to what follows, a series of short tales that contain a blending of traditional, political, and mystical elements that weave their way through an entire Hanrahan story cycle. It also seems to have elements of the traditional Romantic quest, albeit one that is interior and suffused throughout with the occult.
The Secret Rose is described by the author himself as having "but one subject, the war of spiritual with natural order." In his dedication of this group of stories to A.E., aka George William Russell, Yeats notes that
"If a writer wishes to interest a certain people among whom he has grown up, or fancies he has a duty towards them, he may choose for the symbols of his art their legends, their history, their beliefs, their opinions.."
and goes on to say that "as this book is visionary, it is Irish for Ireland, which is still predominantly Celtic" and that it preserves "a gift of vision, which has died out among more hurried and more successful nations." These nine stories are like taking a mythical/mystical spin through history and tradition and they speak to an older wisdom, the knowledge of which only few are gifted and thus live a rather isolated life; sacrifices are made, and individuals take part in their own spiritual or mystical quests for the ideal. They were also my favorite part of this book.
After finishing The Secret Rose, I started researching what to look forward to in Rosa Alchemica , and realized that this Dover edition did not include either "The Tables of the Law" or "The Adoration of the Magi," so I picked up which does. More about that book later.
With Rosa Alchemica we delve deep into the realm of the mystical, the alchemical and the apocalyptic. This is the strangest of the three, for sure, taking me a very long time to work my way through. On that note, I have to say that this has been my first Yeats experience, and I do not claim to understand all of it, but I do have a newly-found reverence for Yeats scholars who do. Still, it was absolutely a trip to read, and this book was definitely an experience most fascinating and one I'll never forget. It took me a long time to go through this little book, stopping to check on various references here and there, but even with my limited understanding it is a book that I can certainly recommend.
May 13, 2019
I just can't believe nobody has rated this legendary and incredible esoteric, mystical and literary masterpiece from one of the greatest writers of all time (in my opinion).
Specially Alchemical Rose and the Tables of the Law I highly recommend to anyone who wants to explore the mysteries of pre Christian mysticism and the fall of the ancient ones and their return. It gives that scary apocalyptic feeling once you read it.
Secret Rose is the rescue of ancient believes before christianism in Ireland.
Masterpiece, all stories contained in these collection. Simply priceless.
Specially Alchemical Rose and the Tables of the Law I highly recommend to anyone who wants to explore the mysteries of pre Christian mysticism and the fall of the ancient ones and their return. It gives that scary apocalyptic feeling once you read it.
Secret Rose is the rescue of ancient believes before christianism in Ireland.
Masterpiece, all stories contained in these collection. Simply priceless.
December 5, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
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