Lecture 2003-06-16
"W. B. Yeats and the Noh"
Mrs. Eileen Kato

On this occasion we were very happy to be the guests of the Irish ambassador, H.E. Mr. P㌧raig Murphy, at his residence in Moto Azabu. The date of the meeting, June 16th, happened to be a serendipitous choice, as it is Bloomsday in Ireland, an annual festival celebrating the day in the life of Leopold Bloom, the protagonist, which is described in James Joyce's novel Ulysses. Mr. Murphy had offered his residence when he learnt that our speaker on this occasion was to be Mrs. Eileen Kato, an Irish-born lady, now a Japanese citizen, well versed in her native country's literature and in that of Japan, who was taking as her subject "W.B. Yeats and the Noh". The meeting had the added cachet of being graced by the presence of our Patron, H.I.H. Princess Takamado, who would be attending the Special Olympics in Dublin in ten days' time. Her mother, Mrs. Tottori, also attended, as did the Grand Chamberlain, Mr. Makoto Watanabe (our speaker in September) and Mrs. Watanabe, Mrs. Abe, goy冏akari to H.M. The Empress, the Tunisian ambassador and the Polish charg・d'affaires, Dr. Jadwiga Rodowicz, who is a Noh scholar. A very special guest was Sister Bridget Keogh, (aged 93), a professor emerita of Sacred Heart University and the daughter of a celebrated New York judge who used to entertain W.B. Yeats and other Irish literary and political figures such as Oscar Wilde and Eamon de Valera on their visits to New York. On her mother's side she is a collateral descendant of the Irish patriot Robert Emmet. Another guest, who linked both aspects of the presentation, was the great Noh master Kanze Hideo, who produced At the Hawk's Well for the Abbey Theatre in Dublin more than twenty years ago. 

Mrs. Kato began by telling some amusing incidents illustrating how Yeats was not concerned with being factually correct, unlike Zeami the great Noh master, who had specifically warned against changing historical facts or the details given in the old tales. She then quoted some contemporary evaluations of the Noh. Royall Tyler (from whom we shall be hearing in July) had said that Noh plays were written to be performed, but some could stand as literature beside any play ever written. Ezra Pound had called the Noh unquestionably one of the greatest arts of the world but also described it as "recondite". Mrs. Kato took leave to disagree with him here; anyone familiar with the Noh would find it was a theatre of the heart and could be enjoyed by anyone with a feeling heart. 

For Yeats, the turning point in his development as a dramatist came with his discovery of the Noh. In 1913, Ezra Pound received from Ernest Fenollosa's widow the notebooks and papers left by her husband, which she wished him to "finish" -- that is, edit to prepare for publication. Fenollosa's versions of the Noh plays he translated were uneven; he had only a smattering of Japanese, and his tutors, Umewaka Minoru and his sons (one descendant of his family was with us this evening), had to rely on an interpreter. But Fenollosa had seen live performances many times, had a genuine grasp of what Noh was all about, and was keenly aware of its literary qualities. Pound kept closely to Fenollosa, but added highly felicitous poetic touches. Four of the translations were published in Dublin by Yeats' sisters in 1916 as Certain Noble Plays of Japan, and these were followed the next year in London and New York by 'Noh' or Accomplishment, a study of the classical stage of Japan. Both publications had an enormous influence on English literature and drama, and not least on Yeats, whom Pound had been serving as amanuensis from 1913. 

It should be noted here that the Noh was already known to Westerners through men like Aston, Chamberlain, Sansom and No鼠 P屍i, and stage actors and producers were becoming increasingly influenced by Far Eastern theatrical concepts. Already by 1911 Yeats himself was moving towards a concept of theatre not unlike that of the Noh. Like Fenollosa and Pound, who had spoken of the unity of image in Noh, Yeats spoke of the plays "playing upon a single metaphor". Unfortunately, as Mrs. Kato emphasized, Yeats did not achieve the important unity of emotion that he discovered in Noh. She regretted that Yeats had never had access to the full translations of Zeami's treatises on Noh, as he would have been well equipped to enter Zeami's mind. He was Zeami's equal as a poet, and believed that poetry was for reading aloud, which is why his plays always sound so good on the stage. But he was not up to Zeami's level in the other fields in which the latter excelled. 

Mrs. Kato said she had been reciting Yeats' poems from her earliest childhood, even before she understood their meaning. She had also been exposed to the old traditional Irish tales, and even had an indirect touch with Noh as a young schoolgirl in Sligo, which Yeats considered home. Why, then did she feel so uncomfortable with Yeats' "N・Plays" (to use his spelling)? It was because they traduced her traditions, and did not achieve the level of the great Noh plays of Japan. Those unfamiliar with Irish lore or Japanese Noh might enjoy his plays, as they have true lyrico-dramatic value; but the flaws in his plays grated on her, brought up, as she had been, bilingually and in a dual tradition, and later a serious student of Noh. 

She then proceeded to an analysis of his "N・Plays", the Four Plays for Dancers, the first of which was At the Hawk's Well. The characters are the Guardian of the Well, an Old man and a Young Man, all masked or made up as if masked (Yeats seems to have considered that a Noh play had to have masks). The Young Man is revealed as being C彡hullain, a warrior hero in the Gaelic saga tradition, who did not care for long life as long as he had immortal fame. The Guardian of the Well is Aoife, seemingly one of the fairy characters called Sidhe (pronounced shee, as in banshee). In the play, Yeats has C彡hullain seeking an island with a well whose waters ensure immortality, something quite out of character with his traditional representation. The traditional C彡hullain did go to the Island of Skye, and also came in touch with an Aoife, but she was a warrior chieftainess not a woman of the Sidhe. And then, where does the hawk come in? The only bird associated with C彡hullain (as in the statue in the Dublin G.P.O.) is the raven. Zeami had warned against changing the episodes of the old tales, as that would only bewilder the audience. He would take one character in a familiar episode, and explore the full range of emotion possible, and the audience would be able to relate to that. But Mrs. Kato had never been able to empathize with any character in the Hawk's Well. It may have been modelled on Y决・/I>, a play translated by Fenollosa and available to Yeats, but if so Yeats had turned his source upside down, taking what suited him and doing what he liked with it. Even in its form, the play did not deserve to be called a Noh play, as C彡hullain, being the main actor, should have the shite role, whereas he actually plays the part of a waki. Also, as a living human, he should not have a mask. 

The second play, The Dreaming of the Bones, is set in the 12th century, at the time of the Norman invasion of Ireland. Here the leading character is Dermot McMurrough, king of Leinster, hereditary enemy of Connaught and of the O'Briens of Munster, and one of the most hated men in Irish history. Paired with him as his former love Dervorgilla. Continuous warring led to his defeat and banishment, and he went to seek help from Henry II of England. In 1169 he returned with a band of Normans and Flemings, and this prepared the way for Henry's invasion of 1171, which the Irish were unable to withstand. (Henry's youngest son, John, was made Lord of Ireland as a child, and came there at the age of seventeen with his entourage. One of his favourites was his butler, Theobald Walter, who was made Butler of Ireland and Earl of Ormond. He was the ancestor of all the Butlers of Ormond, from whom Yeats claimed descent.) Knowing all this history makes it quite impossible for Mrs. Kato to enter into the spirit of the play. For one thing, it is set around an abbey built long after Dermot's time by the enemy O'Briens, and the waki to Dermot is a Connaught man, the least likely to forgive him. The other main character in the play is Dervorgilla, the former lover whom Dermot had brutally rejected long before the Normans came; they are represented as wanting to be together in an afterlife, which is inconceivable. (Irish feeling consigns Dermot to Hell, whereas Dervorgilla would be in Purgatory, at the worst. But there was also a good side to Dermot; he built up a library, the glory of which is The Book of Leinster, one of the major sources for the old sagas, and the C彡hullain saga in particular.) The play was written in 1917 and published in 1919, but was not performed until 1931 as it was considered politically controversial; it has since been performed many times, and those who are unhappy with the plot can still enjoy the beautiful language. 

The third play is The Only Jealousy of Emer, based on one of the most interesting and emotionally moving episodes in the C彡hullain cycle. But Yeats cannot leave well alone. He has to inject his esoterico-theosophic ideas, and he also injects Bricriu, one of the nastiest characters in the sagas, a compulsive trouble-maker who cannot be happy seeing others happy and successful-- though the Bricriu here is not the man of the sagas but a Yeats-invented man of the Sidhe. This strange play is supposed to be modelled on the Noh Aoi no Ue, but it shows a deep misunderstanding of the Noh. Here again, Yeats uses masks or mask-like make-up for everybody, even the musicians. In the early Irish sagas many strong women are portrayed, and Emer is the best of them in every way; yet in Yeats' play she is an embarrassment. The "only jealousy" is a constant theme of the saga love stories; the hero and heroine wed and live happily ever after, except for one infidelity on the husband's side. In the original, Eithne Inguba was an early love of C彡hullain's, but Yeats makes her a new young mistress; even so, Emer had nothing to fear from her, as she herself was helpless only before one of the Sidhe. 

The last of the four plays is Calvary. It has been said of it that the audience's knowledge of the Christian tradition adds force to the impact of Yeats' interpretation. But for Mrs. Kato, as a believing Catholic, the emotional impact, though strong, is negative. This is not the Christ she can believe in. In it, as in the previous play, Yeats injects his esoteric and theosophic interests. By comparison, a contemporary Japanese Christian Noh play, Kirisuto no Fukkatsu, presents the Christ she knows, and she can enter fully into the feeling of the play, as one does with a true Noh play, even though the English version is far inferior to Yeats as poetry.  

Almost every play written by Yeats after 1916 was influenced in some way by Noh. The most effective is perhaps Purgatory, but Mrs. Kato finds The Words upon the Windowpane the most powerful. Frank O'Connor has written that Noh plays gave no scope to Yeats the dramatist, and Sean O'Casey has said that Yeats' idea of a Noh play blossomed for a moment and then faded, "because a Japanese spirit had failed to climb into the soul of a Kelt ". But for all their flaws Yeats' plays have had an immense impact on English writing, and even on Japanese studies of Noh. Ezra Pound, T.S. Eliot and Arthur Waley were all influenced by Yeats, as was James Joyce, who felt impelled to show Yeats up. Yeats and Joyce influenced Samuel Beckett and Flann O'Brien, who then influenced Abe K冀・ Yeats' "N・Plays" are more successful in foreign countries than in most of Ireland, because foreigners do not suffer the impediments to enjoyment that Mrs. Kato has outlined in her own case. At the Hawk's Well has become a regular part of the repertory of new Japanese Noh plays. Yokomichi Mario first tried unsuccessfully to turn it into a classical Noh play, Taka no Izumi, but then retranslated it in a freer form, as Taka-hime, and it is still being staged. The flaws and weaknesses of The Four Dance Dramas have given many people in the West a false impression of what the Noh is, but this is gradually being corrected. It is certainly not dramatic, but at its best it is great theatre and can lay bare the deep, universal human heart and make the attuned spectator recognize his own in it. "It can add a new and rich dimension to your whole life," Mrs. Kato concluded. 

A short question time followed, and the meeting closed with a vote of thanks proposed by Ambassador Murphy, who said he was "relieved" to find that he did not disagree with Mrs. Kato's conclusions. Yeats may have been wrongheaded, but wrongheadedness sometimes results in greatness. Mr. Murphy then invited the assembled company to partake of refreshments, which turned out to be a full meal on a lavish scale. We wish to express our heartfelt thanks to him for what will surely be remembered as one of the Society's memorable occasions.