The Collected Works in Verse and Prose of William Butler Yeats, Vol. 4 (of 8) The Hour-glass. Cathleen ni Houlihan. The Golden Helmet. The Irish Dramatic Movement

A modest stage setting opens “The Hour‑Glass,” a morality play that pits a scholarly Wise Man against a cajoling Fool. Their banter spirals from ancient Babylonian riddles to the everyday hunger of a wandering beggar, teasing out questions of true wisdom, material need and the invisible world that lingers behind ordinary life. The dialogue is sharp yet lyrical, inviting listeners to ponder how knowledge and superstition intertwine in the lives of ordinary folk.

The volume then moves to “Cathleen ni Houlihan,” a vivid dramatization of an Ireland that awakens from slumber when a mythic woman calls on its people to sacrifice for freedom. “The Golden Helmet” follows with a witty satire that lampoons pretensions of grandeur, while the accompanying essay on the Irish Dramatic Movement situates these works within a burgeoning national theatre. Together they offer a rich, early‑twentieth‑century portrait of Irish culture, myth and the evolving art of drama.