James Joyce
Visionary Irish novelistmeets
William Butler Yeats
Visionary Irish poetJoyce’s run-in with Proust may have been awkward, but his first encounter with another literary icon—William Butler Yeats—was completely disastrous. They met in 1902 at the instigation of their mutual friend George Russell. Yeats was 37 and just coming into his own as a poet and dramatist, while Joyce was an insolent youth of 20. The glowering Irish versifier tried hard to get his younger counterpart to like him, but it was a lost cause. Yeats even offered to read some of Joyce’s terrible poetry, which Joyce reluctantly forked over with the snippy retort: “I do so since you ask me, but I attach no more importance to your opinion than to anybody one meets in the street.” A general exchange on literature then ensued. When Yeats mentioned Honoré de Balzac, Joyce laughed at him. “Who reads Balzac today?” he cackled. Finally, the discussion turned to Yeats’ own work, which he described as entering a more experimental phase. “Ah,” Joyce replied, “That shows how rapidly you are deteriorating.” When the conversation ended, Joyce was pointedly dismissive. “We have met too late,” he told Yeats. “You are too old for me to have any effect on you.” All through this barrage of insults, Yeats bit his tongue. Later he was more candid, writing of Joyce: “Such a colossal self-conceit with such a Lilliputian literary genius I never saw combined in one person.”
Knowing James Joyce was such a jerk makes it difficult (not impossible - but definitely difficult) for me to appreciate anything he’s written.
Dear Yeats.
