William Butler Yeats 1865 - 1939

Nobel Literature Prize in 1923

Together with Lady Gregory he founded the Irish Theatre, which was to become the Abbey Theatre, and served as its chief playwright until the movement was joined by John Synge.

His plays usually treat Irish legends; they also reflect his fascination with mysticism and spiritualism. The Countess Cathleen (1892), The Land of Heart's Desire (1894), Cathleen ni Houlihan (1902), The King's Threshold (1904), and Deirdre (1907) are among the best known.

Yeats poetry

Yeats's poetry can be seen as consisting of three

phases:

Early Middle Late

Early poetry

In Yeats's early poetry, up to the volume In the Seven Woods (1904)

We can see the influences of English Romanticism, the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and Symbolism

Two further influences were the occult and the world of the Celtic twilight poets of the 1890s

English Romanticism

Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood

Symbolism

Yeat‘s goals

Yeats saw himself as writing for Ireland and out of an Irish poetic tradition

However, his Ireland is the shadowy world of Celtic legend, rather than a contemporary reality

"The Song of Wandering Aengus" captures the essence of Yeats's early poetry

Celtic Legend

Middle period poetry

Yeats's middle period poetry can be read in the volumes from The Green Helmet (1910) to Michael Robartes and the Dancer (1921)

Subject matter and attitude change

Love is dealt with in a more direct, questioning manner

Yeats still writes about Ireland, but it has become a real Ireland parts of which irritate or puzzle him by their complexity

Puzzling Ireland

Middle period development

He now writes about real events, such as the death of Robert Gregory; and real people (Lady Gregory) and real places (Coole Park)

With these changes comes a noticeable change in style from the meditative rhythms of the earlier verse to the more muscular rhythms and tighter syntax of this middle period

We can hear this new distinctive voice in the two poems:

"No Second Troy" and "Easter 1916"

Final phase

The final phase of Yeats's poetry begins with "The Tower" (1928)

Yeats constructs himself as a very self-conscious bard in poems like "The Tower" and "Sailing to Byzantium"

Into old age…

He publicly celebrates Ireland's culture which he sees living in Coole Park and Lady Gregory and which for him become a symbol of a nostalgically remembered Anglo-Irish superiority

He contemplates old age and its difficulties, and meditates on the function of art in life

Final poetic phase

Yeats was also an Irish Senator, reflected in the poem: "Among School Children„ and "Sailing to Byzantium„

They can serve as examples of verse from the last phase of Yeats's poetry

Thank you for your attention

Any questions?