The Island of Statues: An Arcadian Faery Tale in Two Acts

On a lonely island an enchantress guards a goblin flower that offers elvish wisdom and years of youth beyond the lot of mortals. Many have sought the flower, but have been turned to statues of moon-white stone. Now Almintor the hunter arrives with his page Antonio on a quest to steal the flower and win the love of the beautiful shepherdess Naschina. The Island of Statues, a two-act play in verse, was W. B. Yeats’ first published work. The play was published in serial form in the Dublin University Review in 1885, but has never before been published as a complete work. This volume also contains the short play The Seeker and The Song of the Happy Shepherd, intended as an epilogue to both plays.