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W.B. Yeats
2,169 books2,651 followersWilliam Butler Yeats was an Irish poet and dramatist, and one of the foremost figures of 20th century literature. A pillar of both the Irish and British literary establishments, in his later years Yeats served as an Irish Senator for two terms. He was a driving force behind the Irish Literary Revival, and along with Lady Gregory and Edward Martyn founded the Abbey Theatre, serving as its chief during its early years. In 1923 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature for what the Nobel Committee described as "inspired poetry, which in a highly artistic form gives expression to the spirit of a whole nation." He was the first Irishman so honored. Yeats is generally considered one of the few writers who completed their greatest works after being awarded the Nobel Prize; such works include The Tower (1928) and The Winding Stair and Other Poems (1929).
Yeats was born and educated in Dublin but spent his childhood in County Sligo. He studied poetry in his youth, and from an early age was fascinated by both Irish legends and the occult. Those topics feature in the first phase of his work, which lasted roughly until the turn of the century. His earliest volume of verse was published in 1889, and those slow paced and lyrical poems display debts to Edmund Spenser and Percy Bysshe Shelley, as well as to the Pre-Raphaelite poets. From 1900, Yeats' poetry grew more physical and realistic. He largely renounced the transcendental beliefs of his youth, though he remained preoccupied with physical and spiritual masks, as well as with cyclical theories of life.
--from Wikipedia
Yeats was born and educated in Dublin but spent his childhood in County Sligo. He studied poetry in his youth, and from an early age was fascinated by both Irish legends and the occult. Those topics feature in the first phase of his work, which lasted roughly until the turn of the century. His earliest volume of verse was published in 1889, and those slow paced and lyrical poems display debts to Edmund Spenser and Percy Bysshe Shelley, as well as to the Pre-Raphaelite poets. From 1900, Yeats' poetry grew more physical and realistic. He largely renounced the transcendental beliefs of his youth, though he remained preoccupied with physical and spiritual masks, as well as with cyclical theories of life.
--from Wikipedia
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Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review
October 24, 2026
Yeat's works really make me plung myself into irish culture. His earlier works ( which i personally enjoy the most) are really irish folklore focused. They place you in mythical forests and dreamy landscapes which feel straight out of lord of the rings. His rhyme schemes are aswell, really fun to read. He has kind of a similar point in an abundant amount of his works like T.S Eliot, which is basically that we humans must escape our ordinary lives, the formulated mechanic like routines we have forced upon ourselves and get out there and experience the supernatural and whimsical aspects of life.
Standouts : The Wanderings of Oisin, Ephemera, Down by the Salley Garden, Fergus and the Druid, The Lamentation of the Old Pensioner, To a Child Dancing in the Wind, Two Years Later, A Coat, The People, An Image From a Past Life, Easter 1916, The Second Comming, a Prayer for my Daughter, Sailing to Byzantium, The Tower
Standouts : The Wanderings of Oisin, Ephemera, Down by the Salley Garden, Fergus and the Druid, The Lamentation of the Old Pensioner, To a Child Dancing in the Wind, Two Years Later, A Coat, The People, An Image From a Past Life, Easter 1916, The Second Comming, a Prayer for my Daughter, Sailing to Byzantium, The Tower
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review