Padraic Colum and The Drama of Story

Event

1993-0308

01:35:09

This is a lecture by Kay Diviney titled “Padraic Colum and The Drama of Story”, where she discusses Colum’s writing and history of poetry and theater, his identifying with peasantry, metaphorical and literal meanings. This lecture also details the books and writings by Padraic Colum and gives an overview of his life and influence.

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Held by Benevolent Irish Society

The lecture is in progress when the recording starts. The speaker is introducing her lecture on Padraic Colum.
The speaker reviews Padraic Colum's literary career from about 1902 to 1969. Colum was described as a “genius” by AE (George Russell). His work was versatile including many genres. At his death in 1972 Colum had at least 1000 publications. In addition to her description of Colum’s work as a “homely grandeur”, the speaker quotes others authors’ description of Colum and and his work.
The speaker notes that Colum explained that he identified with the peasantry in the fore piece of “The Poet’s Circuits”. The speaker reviews the idea of a poet’s circuit. The speaker comments on the context of some of Colum’s descriptions in the fore piece including a woman quilting, land owners, fields, a ploughman’s lunch, and hedge schools.
The speaker quotes from near the end of the “The Poet’s Circuits” fore piece when Colum has been left alone by his hosts. The speaker then describes how the quote relates to Colum’s experiences and his interests and that it is seen in his other literary works.
The speaker continues retelling the fore piece of “The Poet’s Circuits” where Colum recites a new poem to his host. In this way, the speaker clarifies, Colum gave his poems back to the people and like the medieval poets Colum “proved” his poems. She then quotes and makes clear the final lines of the fore piece.
The speaker breaks Colum’s work into plays, poetry and fiction. The speaker highlights Colum’s three plays produced at the Abbey theatre and notes much of his other dramatic work as juvenilia. The speaker speculates that Colum’s career as a dramatist changed with his emigration to America in 1914. In contrast Colum’s poetry continues throughout this career and references “Wild Earth”.
The speaker shifts to reviewing Colum’s children's books and his two novels. The speaker feels that Colum did some of his greatest work in the last 15 years of his life. The speaker illustrates who Colum was by reviewing his method of writing a manuscript, describing him taking a curtain call, how he presented himself on Dublin streets and showing a photograph and a sketch of Colum.
The speaker relates an anecdote when Colum took his play “Balloon” in the 1940’s to a producer who did not recognize him as the same writer from the early part of the century. The speaker shows another sketch of Colum in which he had been compared to Dante.
In highlighting the elements common to Colum’s diverse works the speaker reviews Colum’s ideas of drama as storytelling and his use of Irish folktales to show rather than tell the character’s emotional state. The speaker explains that Colum connected folktales to peasant life.
SIDE A ENDS
The speaker retells and quotes from Colum’s novel “The King of Ireland’s Son” to explain how Colum constructed a story using Irish folktales interwoven in inventive ways. The speaker also notes how Colum repeats ideas among his works as well as including political overtones in his work. The speaker ends by reiterating that Colum finds the drama of storytelling a “homely grandeur”.
Applause
In the Q and A the speaker gives a brief overview of Colum, his parents and his wife Mary Catherine Gunning Maguire.
Lecture side B ends.