John Millington Synge
John Millington Synge
Edmund John Millington Syngewas an Irish playwright, poet, prose writer, travel writer and collector of folklore. He was a key figure in the Irish Literary Revival and was one of the co-founders of the Abbey Theatre. He is best known for his play The Playboy of the Western World, which caused riots in Dublin during its opening run at the Abbey Theatre...
NationalityIrish
ProfessionPoet
Date of Birth16 April 1871
CountryIreland
humour nourish
Of the things which nourish the imagination, humour is one of the most needful, and it is dangerous to limit or destroy it.
fully good irish-dramatist nut speech
In a good play every speech should be as fully flavoured as a nut or apple.
animals caught dangerous freedom irish-dramatist sand seemed spirit stronger
The freedom of the sand seemed to give a stronger spirit of revolt, and some of the animals were only caught after a dangerous struggle.
beauty art character
Every article on these islands has an almost personal character, which gives this simple life, where all art is unknown, something of the artistic beauty of medieval life.
autumn should-have play
Words, particularly in a play, should have the texture of a crisp, autumn apple.
family son artist
In the middle classes the gifted son of a family is always the poorest -- usually a writer or artist with no sense for speculation -- and in a family of peasants, where the average comfort is just over penury, the gifted son sinks also, and is soon a tramp on the roadside.
rocks fog islands
A week of sweeping fogs has passed over and given me a strange sense of exile and desolation. I walk round the island nearly every day, yet I can see nothing anywhere but a mass of wet rock, a strip of surf, and then a tumult of waves.
sight fog circles
A low line of shore was visible at first on the right between the movement of the waves and fog, but when we came further it was lost sight of, and nothing could be seen but the mist curling in the rigging, and a small circle of foam.
death men forever
No man at all can be living forever and we must be satisfied.
sister giving lord
Lord, confound this surly sister, blight her brow with blotch and blister, cramp her larynx, lung and liver, in her guts a galling give her.
names royal
All the rare and royal names Wormy sheepskin yet retains
horse son thousand
What is the price of a thousand horses against a son where there is one son only?
strong roots clay
It is the timber of poetry that wears most surely, and there is no timber that has not strong roots among the clay and worms.
along irish-dramatist music unless
A translation is no translation, he said, unless it will give you the music of a poem along with the words of it.