George William Russell

George William Russell pseud. A. E., 1867-1935, Irish author, b. Lurgan, educated in Dublin. An active member of the Irish nationalist movement, he edited the Irish Homestead (1904-23) and the Irish Statesman (1923-30). He worked with Sir Horace Plunkett for Irish agricultural improvement, and he was also a talented amateur painter and a renowned conversationalist. Russell was one of the major writers in the Irish literary renaissance . His poems and plays are noted for their mystical tone, their delicate melodious style, and their view of humanity's spiritual nature. Among his works are Homeward: Songs by the Way (1894), The Candle of Vision (1918), and Selected Poems (1935).

Bibliography: See his prose collection The Living Torch (ed. by M. Gibbons, 1937); memoir by J. Eglinton (1937).

Russell, George William (1867–1935) Irish poet, essayist, journalist, and painter, who wrote under the pen name A. E. A leading figure of the Irish literary renaissance, he published many collections of romantic and often mystical poetry, among them The Divine Vision (1904) and Midsummer Eve (1928). A leading figure of the Irish literary renaissance, he published many collections of romantic and often mystical poetry, among them The Divine Vision (1904) and Midsummer Eve (1928).

Russell, George William (Æ) (1867–1935), Irish poet and dramatist, published Homeward (1894), his first volume of mystical verses, with the encouragement of Yeats. His poetic drama Deirdre was performed in 1902 at the Irish National Theatre (later the Abbey), which he helped to found. Other volumes of verse include The Divine Vision (1904), Gods of War (1915), The Interpreters (1922), and Midsummer Eve (1928). He edited the Irish Statesman (1923–30). In 1934 he published an ambitious poem of Celtic mythology, The House of the Titans, and in 1935 his Selected Poems.