On Baile's Strand
On Baile's Strand
Author: W. B. Yeats (with Lady Gregory)
First Performance: 1904, Dublin
Published: 1903; rev. 1906
Genre: Drama in 1 act; blank verse, prose, and songs
Setting: Great hall at Dundealgan (Dundalk), Ireland, 1st c. ad
Cast: 5m, extras
The Fool and the Blind Man reveal that the High King Conchubar is coming to exact an oath of allegiance from Cuchulain, the great warrior and King of Muirthemne, and that the Scottish warrior queen Aoife has sent her son to kill Cuchulain. Despite initial resistance, Cuchulain, recognizing that at the age of 40 he can no longer live ‘like a bird's flight’, swears loyalty to Conchubar. Aoife's son presents himself and challenges Cuchulain. Cuchulain refuses to fight, but is ordered to do so by Conchubar. Cuchulain defeats the young stranger but then...
[The entire page is 286 words long]
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