Mosada
Encyclopedia
Mosada is a short verse play in three scenes written by William Butler Yeats
and published in 1886.
The only characters are Mosada, a "moorish girl," her friend the hunchback child Cola, a Christian
monk
and a few nameless inquisitors
. The play is set in a fictional kingdom.
In the first scene, Mosada laments her separation from her Christian lover Gomez. Using magic she attempts to conjure up a vision of him, but is interrupted when inquisitors arrive to arrest her.
In the second scene, the inquisitors deliberate over her fate with the old monk, who is not told the identity of the girl. They decide she must be executed.
In the third and final scene, Mosada, alone and in prison, commits suicide by sucking a drop of poison from her ring. The monk arrives to announce her fate and is shocked to discover his prisoner is Mosada: he reveals that he himself is her lover Gomez.
In its original publication, the play was followed by a lyric that was later renamed "The Song of the Happy Shepherd
."
William Butler Yeats
William 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...
and published in 1886.
The only characters are Mosada, a "moorish girl," her friend the hunchback child Cola, a Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
monk
Monk
A monk is a person who practices religious asceticism, living either alone or with any number of monks, while always maintaining some degree of physical separation from those not sharing the same purpose...
and a few nameless inquisitors
Inquisition
The Inquisition, Inquisitio Haereticae Pravitatis , was the "fight against heretics" by several institutions within the justice-system of the Roman Catholic Church. It started in the 12th century, with the introduction of torture in the persecution of heresy...
. The play is set in a fictional kingdom.
In the first scene, Mosada laments her separation from her Christian lover Gomez. Using magic she attempts to conjure up a vision of him, but is interrupted when inquisitors arrive to arrest her.
In the second scene, the inquisitors deliberate over her fate with the old monk, who is not told the identity of the girl. They decide she must be executed.
In the third and final scene, Mosada, alone and in prison, commits suicide by sucking a drop of poison from her ring. The monk arrives to announce her fate and is shocked to discover his prisoner is Mosada: he reveals that he himself is her lover Gomez.
In its original publication, the play was followed by a lyric that was later renamed "The Song of the Happy Shepherd
The Song of the Happy Shepherd
The Song of the Happy Shepherd is a poem by William Butler Yeats.It was first published under this title in his first book, The Wanderings of Oisin and Other Poems, but in fact the same poem had appeared twice before: as an epilogue to Yeats' poem The Isle of Statues, and again as an epilogue to...
."
Sources
- Yeats, William ButlerWilliam 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...
. 2003. Mosada. Whitefish, MT: Kessinger Publishing. ISBN 0766179737. - Mosada at Internet ArchiveInternet ArchiveThe Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...
.