“ But I will not call you Teigue the Fool any longer. FOOL. Let me come close to you where nobody will hear me. But first you must promise you will not drive them away. [WISE MAN nods.] Every day men go out dressed in black and spread great black nets over the hill, great black nets. WISE MAN. Why do they do that? FOOL. That they may catch the feet of the angels. But every morning, just before the dawn, I go out and cut the nets with my shears, and the angels fly away. WISE MAN. Ah, now I know that you are Teigue the Fool. You have told me that I am wise, and I have never seen an angel. ”
W. B. Yeats
Summary
“The Hour Glass”, is a work by W. B. Yeats. It explores elements such as Teigue the Fool, pennies and threshold.
Quotes from The Hour Glass (W. B. Yeats)
“ WISE MAN. My time to die has not come. I have my pupils. I have a young wife and children that I cannot leave. Why must I die? ANGEL. You must die because no souls have passed over the threshold of heaven since you came into this country. The threshold is grassy, and the gates are rusty, and the angels that keep watch there are lonely. WISE MAN. Where will death bring me to? ANGEL. The doors of heaven will not open to you, for you have denied the existence of heaven; and the doors of purgatory will not open to you, for you have denied the existence of purgatory. ”
“ A YOUNG MAN. Master, till you came, no teacher in this land was able to get rid of foolishness and ignorance. But every one has listened to you, every one has learned the truth. You have had your last disputation. ANOTHER. What a fool you made of that monk in the market-place! He had not a word to say. WISE MAN. [Comes from his desk and stands among them in the middle of the room.] Pupils, dear friends, I have deceived you all this time. It was I myself who was ignorant. There is a God. There is a heaven. There is fire that passes, and there is fire that lasts for ever. ”
