Ae

(George William Russell)

(1867-1935)

   Irish poet, mystic, painter, economist, and journalist, better known by his pseudonym "AE" (AEon). He was editor of The Irish Homestead (1904-23) and The Irish Statesman (1923-30). He published his volume of poems Homeward: Songs by the Way in 1894 and two volumes of Collected Poems in 1913 and 1926. The Candle of Vision (1918) is the best guide to his religious beliefs. In 1934 he published a poem of Celtic mythology, The House of the Titans. Some of his other poems have allusions to mythical Celtic figures. Explanations of these can be found at http://www.bartleby.com/253/1001.html. When he spoke of the political upheavals of the time he was ignored. After the death of his wife in 1932, Russell moved to England - first to London in 1933 and then to Bournemouth, where he died. His poem "A Memory" reflects his realization that life is frail. Some of his other poems: "By the Margin of the Great Deep," "Immortality," "Krishna," "Self-Discipline," "The Great Breath," "The Man to the Angel."

   Sources: Collected Poems, by AE, London: Macmillan, 1913 and 2001. Dictionary of National Biography. Electronic Edition 1.1. Oxford University Press, 1997. Encyclopædia Britannica Ultimate Reference Suite DVD, 2006. John Burns Library, Boston College, (www.bc.edu/libraries/centers/burns). Massachusetts Poemhunter (www.poemhunter.com). PoetryConnection.net (www.poetryconnection.net). The Columbia Granger's Index to Poetry. 11th ed. The Columbia Granger's World of Poetry. Columbia University Press, 2005 (http://www. columbiagrangers.org). The National Portrait Gallery (www.npg.org.uk). The Oxford Companion to English Literature. 6th edition. Margaret Drabble, ed. Oxford University Press, 2000.