“The poetry of the drama is not in the words, but in the situation.” — J.M. Synge | V2Melody

“The poetry of the drama is not in the words, but in the situation.”

Locating dramatic poetry in lived circumstances rather than ornament alone · Preface to The Playboy of the Western World

About J.M. Synge

J.M. Synge

16 April 1871–24 March 1909

In the pantheon of Irish literature, few figures cast as long a shadow as John Millington Synge, a man who compressed into his brief thirty-seven years a literary output that would reshape the very notion of Irish dramatic art. Born on April 16, 1871, into the comfortable Protestant Anglo-Irish gentry of County…

More by J.M. Synge

Poems by J.M. Synge

More remarks by J.M. Synge

“A play that has the same atmosphere as a poem, and yet is full of life and movement, is what I am trying to write.”

Describing his aim to unite poetic atmosphere with energetic action · Preface to The Playboy of the Western World

“On the stage one must have reality, and one must have joy.”

Defending a theatre that joins truthful observation with delight · Preface to The Playboy of the Western World

“In the arts of the theatre, we must have a language that is natural and yet lifted above ordinary speech.”

Seeking a dramatic language that remains vivid without losing everyday vitality · Preface to The Playboy of the Western World