A young man who had been troubling society with impalpable doctrines of a new civilization which he called "the Kingdom of Heaven" had been put out of the way; and I can imagine that believer in material power murmuring as he went homeward, "it will all blow over now." Yes. The wind from the Kingdom of Heaven has blown over the world, and shall blow for centuries yet.
The Economics of Ireland and the Policy of the British Government (1921)
After the spiritual powers, there is no thing in the world more unconquerable than the spirit of nationality. ... The spirit of nationality in Ireland will persist even though the mightiest of material powers be its neighbor.
The Economics of Ireland and the Policy of the British Government (1921)
In ancient shadows and twilightsWhere childhood had strayed,The world’s great sorrows were bornAnd its heroes were made.In the lost boyhood of JudasChrist was betrayed.
"Germinal" in Vale and Other Poems (1931)
Let thy young wanderer dream on:Call him not home.A door opens, a breath a voiceFrom the ancient room,Speaks to him now. Be it dark or brightHe is knit with his doom.
"Germinal" in Vale and Other Poems (1931)
We may fight against what is wrong, but if we allow ourselves to hate, that is to insure our spiritual defeat and our likeness to what we hate.
As quoted in The Living Torch, A.E. (1937) by Monk Gibbon
Seek on earth what you have found in heaven.
As quoted in The Unpractised Heart (1942) by Leonard Alfred George Strong, p. 147
I remember once quarreling with William Butler Yeats|Yeats who was walking around the room with a sword in one hand muttering spells to ward off evil spirits, and I noticed that every time he passed a plate of plums he put down his unoccupied hand and took a plum and I said, 'Yeats, you cannot evoke great spirits and eat plums at the same time."
As quoted in Across My Path (1952) by Pelham Edgar, p. 148
:Published in the Canadian Theosophist Volume 20, 1 (1939)
George William Russell (10 April 1867 – 17 July 1935) who wrote under the
pseudonymA pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
ÆÆ is a grapheme formed from the letters a and e. Originally a ligature representing a Latin diphthong, it has been promoted to the full status of a letter in the alphabets of some languages, including Danish, Faroese, Norwegian and Icelandic...
(sometimes written
AE or
A.E.), was an
IrishThe Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
nationalistIrish nationalism manifests itself in political and social movements and in sentiment inspired by a love for Irish culture, language and history, and as a sense of pride in Ireland and in the Irish people...
, writer, editor, critic,
poetA poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
, and painter. He was also a
mysticalMysticism is the knowledge of, and especially the personal experience of, states of consciousness, i.e. levels of being, beyond normal human perception, including experience and even communion with a supreme being.-Classical origins:...
writer, and centre of a group of followers of
theosophyTheosophy, in its modern presentation, is a spiritual philosophy developed since the late 19th century. Its major themes were originally described mainly by Helena Blavatsky , co-founder of the Theosophical Society...
in
Dublin, for many years.
Organisor
Russell was born in
LurganLurgan is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The town is near the southern shore of Lough Neagh and in the north-eastern corner of the county. Part of the Craigavon Borough Council area, Lurgan is about 18 miles south-west of Belfast and is linked to the city by both the M1 motorway...
,
County Armagh-History:Ancient Armagh was the territory of the Ulaid before the fourth century AD. It was ruled by the Red Branch, whose capital was Emain Macha near Armagh. The site, and subsequently the city, were named after the goddess Macha...
. His family moved to Dublin when he was eleven. He was educated at
RathminesRathmines is a suburb on the southside of Dublin, about 3 kilometres south of the city centre. It effectively begins at the south side of the Grand Canal and stretches along the Rathmines Road as far as Rathgar to the south, Ranelagh to the east and Harold's Cross to the west.Rathmines has...
School and the Metropolitan School of Art, where he began a lifelong friendship with
William Butler YeatsWilliam Butler Yeats was an Irish poet and playwright, and one of the foremost figures of 20th century literature. A pillar of both the Irish and British literary establishments, in his later years he served as an Irish Senator for two terms...
. He started working as a
draperDraper is the now largely obsolete term for a wholesaler, or especially retailer, of cloth, mainly for clothing, or one who works in a draper's shop. A draper may additionally operate as a cloth merchant or a haberdasher. The drapers were an important trade guild...
’s clerk, then worked many years for the Irish Agricultural Organization Society (IAOS), an agricultural co-operative movement founded by Horace Plunkett in 1894. The two came together in 1897 when the co-operative movement was eight years old. Plunkett needed an able organiser and W. B. Yeats suggested Russell, who became Assistant Secretary of the IAOS.
Politician
He was an able lieutenant and travelled extensively throughout Ireland as a spokesman for the society, mainly responsible for developing the credit societies and establishing
co-operative banksThe Co-operative Bank plc is a commercial bank in the United Kingdom and Guernsey, with its headquarters in Manchester.The bank markets itself as an ethical bank, and refuses to invest in companies involved in the arms trade, global climate change, genetic engineering, animal testing and use of...
in the south and west of the country whose numbers rose to 234 by 1910. The pair made a good team, with each gaining much from the association with the other. As an officer of the IAOS he could not express political opinions freely, but he made no secret of the fact hat he considered himself a Nationalist. During the 1913 Dublin Lock-out he wrote an open letter to the Irish Times criticizing the attitude of the employers, then spoke on it in England and helped bring the crisis to an end. He was an independent delegate to the 1917-18
Irish ConventionThe Irish Convention was an assembly which sat in Dublin, Ireland from July 1917 until March 1918 to address the Irish Question and other constitutional problems relating to an early enactment of self-government for Ireland, to debate its wider future, discuss and come to an understanding on...
in which he opposed
John RedmondJohn Edward Redmond was an Irish nationalist politician, barrister, MP in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party from 1900 to 1918...
's compromise on Home Rule.
Publisher
Russell was editor from 1905 to 1923 of the
Irish HomesteadThe Irish Homestead was the weekly publication of the Irish Agricultural Organisation Society . It was founded in 1895 by Horace Plunkett....
, the journal of the IAOS, and infused it with the vitality that made it famous half the world over. His gifts as a writer and publicist gained him a wide influence in the cause of agricultural co-operation. He then became editor of the
The Irish Statesman, which merged with the
Irish Homestead, from 15 September 1923 until 12 April 1930. With the demise of this paper he was for the first time in his life out of a job, and concerns were raised that he could find himself in a state of poverty, as he had never earned very much money from his paintings or books. Unbeknownst to him meetings were held and collections organized and later that year at Plunkett House he was presented by Father T. Finlay with a cheque for £800. This enabled him to visit the United States the following year, where he was very well received all over the country and his books sold in large numbers.
He used the pseudonym "AE", or more properly, "
ÆÆ is a grapheme formed from the letters a and e. Originally a ligature representing a Latin diphthong, it has been promoted to the full status of a letter in the alphabets of some languages, including Danish, Faroese, Norwegian and Icelandic...
". This derived from an earlier
Æ'on, commonly written AEON Co., Ltd., is the holding company of Æon Group. It has its headquarters in Mihama-ku, Chiba, Chiba Prefecture.It operates JUSCO supermarkets directly in Japan.Æon is the largest retailer in Asia...
signifying the lifelong quest of man, subsequently shortened.
Writer, artist
His first book of poems,
Homeward: Songs by the Way (1894), established him in what was known as the
Irish Literary RevivalThe Irish Literary Revival was a flowering of Irish literary talent in the late 19th and early 20th century.-Forerunners:...
, where Æ met the young
James JoyceJames Augustine Aloysius Joyce was an Irish novelist and poet, considered to be one of the most influential writers in the modernist avant-garde of the early 20th century...
in 1902 and introduced him to other Irish literary figures, including William Butler Yeats. He appears as a character in the "
ScyllaIn Greek mythology, Scylla was a monster that lived on one side of a narrow channel of water, opposite its counterpart Charybdis. The two sides of the strait were within an arrow's range of each other—so close that sailors attempting to avoid Charybdis would pass too close to Scylla and vice...
and
CharybdisCharybdis or Kharybdis was a sea monster, later rationalised as a whirlpool and considered a shipping hazard in the Strait of Messina.-The mythological background:...
" episode of Joyce's
UlyssesUlysses is a novel by the Irish author James Joyce. It was first serialised in parts in the American journal The Little Review from March 1918 to December 1920, and then published in its entirety by Sylvia Beach on 2 February 1922, in Paris. One of the most important works of Modernist literature,...
, where he dismisses
Stephen'sStephen Dedalus is James Joyce's literary alter ego, appearing as the protagonist and antihero of his first, semi-autobiographical novel of artistic existence A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and an important character in Joyce's Ulysses...
theories on Shakespeare. His collected poems appeared in 1913, with a second edition in 1926.
His house at 17
RathgarRathgar is a suburb of Dublin, Ireland, lying about 3 kilometres south of the city centre.-Amenities:Rathgar is largely a quiet suburb with good amenities, including primary and secondary schools, nursing homes, child-care and sports facilities, and good public transport to the city centre...
Avenue in Dublin became a meeting-place at the time for everyone interested in the economic and artistic future of Ireland. His interests were wide-ranging; he became a
theosophistTheosophy, in its modern presentation, is a spiritual philosophy developed since the late 19th century. Its major themes were originally described mainly by Helena Blavatsky , co-founder of the Theosophical Society...
and wrote extensively on politics and economics, while continuing to paint and write poetry. Æ claimed to be a clairvoyant, able to view various kinds of spiritual beings, which he illustrated in paintings and drawings. The keynote of his work may be found in a motto from the Bhagavadgita prefixed to one of his earlier poems
I am Beauty itself among beautiful things. He was noted for his exceptional kindness and generosity towards younger writers:
Frank O'ConnorFrank O’Connor was an Irish author of over 150 works, best known for his short stories and memoirs.-Early life:...
called him " the man who was the father to three generations of Irish writers".
He moved to England after his wife’s death in 1932 and died in
BournemouthBournemouth is a large coastal resort town in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. According to the 2001 Census the town has a population of 163,444, making it the largest settlement in Dorset. It is also the largest settlement between Southampton and Plymouth...
in 1935. He is buried in
Mount Jerome CemeteryMount Jerome Cemetery is situated in Harold's Cross on the south side of Dublin, Ireland. Since its foundation in 1836, it has witnessed over 300,000 burials...
, Dublin.
Poetry
- Voices of the Stones (MacMillian 1925)
- Homeward Songs by the Way (Dublin: Whaley 1894)
- The Earth Breath and Other Poems (NY&London: John Lane 1896)
- The Nuts of Knowledge (Dublin: Dun Emer Press
The Dun Emer Press was an Irish private press founded in 1902 by Elizabeth Yeats and her brother William Butler Yeats, part of the Celtic Revival. It was named after the legendary Emer and evolved into the Cuala Press.-History:...
, 1903)
- The Divine Vision and Other Poems (London: Macmillan; NY: Macmillan 1904)
- By Still Waters (Dublin: Dun Emer Press 1906)
- Deirdre (Dublin: Maunsel 1907)
- Collected Poems (London: Macmillan 1913) (2nd. edit. 1926)
- Gods of War, with Other Poems (Dub, priv. 1915)
- Imaginations and Reveries (Dub&London: Maunsel 1915)
- The Candle of Vision (London: Macmillan 1918)
- Autobiography of a Mystic (Gerrards Cross, 1975), 175pp.;
- Midsummer Eve (NY: Crosby Gaige 1928)
- Enchantment and Other Poems (NY: Fountain; London: Macmillan 1930);
- Vale and Other Poems (London: Macmillan 1931)
- Songs and Its Fountains (London: Macmillan 1932)
- The House of Titans and Other Poems (London: Macmillan 1934)
- Selected Poems (London: Macmillan 1935).
Essays
- AE in the Irish Theosophist (1892-97)
- The National Being : Some Thoughts on an Irish Polity (1916)
- The Candle of Vision (1918)
- Song and Its Fountains (1932)
External links