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Collected Poems
William Butler Yeats ( 13 June 1865 – 28 January 1939) was an Irish poet and one of the foremost figures of 20th-century literature. A pillar of both the Irish and British literary establishments, in his later years he served as an Irish Senator for two terms. Yeats was a driving force behind the Irish Literary Revival and, along with Lady Gregory, Edward Martyn, and others, founded the Abbey Theatre, where he served as its chief during its early years. In 1923, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature as the first Irishman so honoured for what the Nobel Committee described as "inspired poetry, which in a highly artistic form gives expression to the spirit of a whole nation". Yeats is considered to be 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 (1933).
480 pages, Capa dura
Published July 1, 2020
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About the author
W.B. Yeats
2,043 books2,564 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 - 29 of 29 reviews
October 3, 2019
This was an extensive collection of Yeats’ poems. Some were magnificent, some easy to read, others difficult and obscure. Great for Kindle since I could hover over proper nouns and strange words to learn more. Complex just like the Irish poet himself.
January 22, 2018
"Come away, O human child!
To the waters and the wild
With a faery, hand in hand,
For the world's more full of weeping
than you can understand."
4.5. Utter beauty.
To the waters and the wild
With a faery, hand in hand,
For the world's more full of weeping
than you can understand."
4.5. Utter beauty.
October 9, 2019
This collection gathers about 300 poems from 12 poetry collections by Yeats. Most of the dozen collections are included in their entirety.
Yeats is considered by some to be the best poet of the 20th century and by most to be among the best. Most poetry readers will be familiar with Yeats’ more commonly anthologized poems such as: “The Lake Isle of Innisfree,” “The Second Coming,” “Leda and the Swan,” and “Sailing to Byzantium.” However, many readers may not be familiar with the full scope of his work. Some may believe that Yeats work is antiquated, not because it isn’t approachable, but because Yeats favored traditional forms (i.e. rhymed and metered poetry) [though he did engage in experimental approaches.] By the time he was writing, there had already begun to be a shift toward free verse, and so his work may seem of a more bygone era than it was. Of course, as will be mentioned below, Yeats work included a lot of political poetry, and political poetry doesn’t tend to age well.
On subject matter more than form, Yeats was progressive and experimental. Yeats poetry drew heavily on mysticism and the occult. In his earliest collection, “Crossways,” he does as many 20th century poets and writers with mystic ambitions or interests did, and turned his attention eastward to India. However, Yeats soon decided to focus on his homeland of Ireland. Hence, one will see references to faeries and Christian mystic notions rather than appeals to Hindu mythos. Many will find Yeats’ appeal to mysticism intriguing.
Yeats’ poems were also often political in nature. He viewed himself as Irish to the core, but was among the Protestant minority. While he was an Irish nationalist who wanted an independent Ireland, he wasn’t so keen on the fact that the full expression of that would mean that his sect, whose power outsized its numbers -- would suffer a shift from the ruling to the ruled. “Easter, 1916” is among his most well-known and potent political poems. His feelings about Ireland being yoked into Britain's affairs can most vividly be seen in “An Irishman Foresees His Death.”
I enjoyed experiencing the full breadth of Yeats’ work from tiny amusing poems like “A Drinking Song” to clever lessons such as “Beggar to Beggar Cried” to more extensive commentary on social issues like “Lapis Lazuli.” I’d highly recommend this collection for poetry readers.
Yeats is considered by some to be the best poet of the 20th century and by most to be among the best. Most poetry readers will be familiar with Yeats’ more commonly anthologized poems such as: “The Lake Isle of Innisfree,” “The Second Coming,” “Leda and the Swan,” and “Sailing to Byzantium.” However, many readers may not be familiar with the full scope of his work. Some may believe that Yeats work is antiquated, not because it isn’t approachable, but because Yeats favored traditional forms (i.e. rhymed and metered poetry) [though he did engage in experimental approaches.] By the time he was writing, there had already begun to be a shift toward free verse, and so his work may seem of a more bygone era than it was. Of course, as will be mentioned below, Yeats work included a lot of political poetry, and political poetry doesn’t tend to age well.
On subject matter more than form, Yeats was progressive and experimental. Yeats poetry drew heavily on mysticism and the occult. In his earliest collection, “Crossways,” he does as many 20th century poets and writers with mystic ambitions or interests did, and turned his attention eastward to India. However, Yeats soon decided to focus on his homeland of Ireland. Hence, one will see references to faeries and Christian mystic notions rather than appeals to Hindu mythos. Many will find Yeats’ appeal to mysticism intriguing.
Yeats’ poems were also often political in nature. He viewed himself as Irish to the core, but was among the Protestant minority. While he was an Irish nationalist who wanted an independent Ireland, he wasn’t so keen on the fact that the full expression of that would mean that his sect, whose power outsized its numbers -- would suffer a shift from the ruling to the ruled. “Easter, 1916” is among his most well-known and potent political poems. His feelings about Ireland being yoked into Britain's affairs can most vividly be seen in “An Irishman Foresees His Death.”
I enjoyed experiencing the full breadth of Yeats’ work from tiny amusing poems like “A Drinking Song” to clever lessons such as “Beggar to Beggar Cried” to more extensive commentary on social issues like “Lapis Lazuli.” I’d highly recommend this collection for poetry readers.
March 23, 2017
"Words alone are certain good."
October 11, 2025
With a few exceptions, this reader found these poems to be mostly obscure and hard to connect with. "Sailing to Byzantium" is justly his most famous.
December 19, 2024
3.5 stars
March 5, 2015
W.B. Yeats is my favorite poet and I've had his Collected Poems sitting on my shelf for a while now so I finally tackled the whole thing.
I don't recommend reading a poet's whole oeuvre all at once like I did. In retrospect I wish I had read each collection of poetry separately, as they were originally published, spacing the reading out over a longer period of time. Trying to read all of it at once was just too much, and I'm sure I skimmed over poems I would have appreciated more if I had taken more time.
"The Rose of Battle" has long been my favorite poem and I still loved it but "The Second Coming" blew me away and has now replaced it. Yeats is still my poet bae and I'm sure I'll be returning to the poems in this book again and again.
I don't recommend reading a poet's whole oeuvre all at once like I did. In retrospect I wish I had read each collection of poetry separately, as they were originally published, spacing the reading out over a longer period of time. Trying to read all of it at once was just too much, and I'm sure I skimmed over poems I would have appreciated more if I had taken more time.
"The Rose of Battle" has long been my favorite poem and I still loved it but "The Second Coming" blew me away and has now replaced it. Yeats is still my poet bae and I'm sure I'll be returning to the poems in this book again and again.
July 12, 2022
Many of the poems in this Yeats collection exceed the bounds of 'normal' general knowledge in the 21st century - some idea of Greek, Roman, and Western European (especially Irish) mythos and folklore, as well as that from the countries to the north of the African continent, would be highly beneficial to at least Google while reading. Beyond that, there are extensive amounts of imagery taking cues from Christian revelation, prophecy, and philosophy on the subjects of mortality, reasons for existence, and other standard poetic fare. My two favourite areas of the book lie in the poems written during/after WWI, and the Last Poems at the end of the book, where there were especial musings on both the longevity of suffering and brevity of life, loves, and passions.
January 8, 2017
Memory
One had a lovely face,
And two or three had charm,
But charm and face were in vain
Because the mountain grass
Cannot but keep the form
Where the mountain hare has lain.
W.B. Yeats
P.S. Lovely poetry, lovely edition!
One had a lovely face,
And two or three had charm,
But charm and face were in vain
Because the mountain grass
Cannot but keep the form
Where the mountain hare has lain.
W.B. Yeats
P.S. Lovely poetry, lovely edition!
January 25, 2015
I read volume 4 of the Poetical works by W. B. Yeats.
July 18, 2017
My favorite poetry so far.
June 21, 2022
This collection was great for giving me a sense of the full flavor of Yeats's poetry.
(The Literary Life Podcast’s 2 for '22 Reading Challenge: Poetry, Well Read Poem Podcast Poets – First poet)
(The Literary Life Podcast’s 2 for '22 Reading Challenge: Poetry, Well Read Poem Podcast Poets – First poet)
November 20, 2024
Mostly outstanding, especially the early poems.
August 10, 2024
Тайната ми е че не съм я довършил все още, но ще си я отбележа, защото поезията не е като проза да седна да я изчета. На 20% съм и забелязвам че главно ми харесват по-ритмични поеми, не съм голям фен на неизмерената мерена реч (този термин аз си го измислих, спечелил съм това право като литературен "критик").
The Ballad Of Father Gilligan
The old priest Peter Gilligan
Was weary night and day
For half his flock were in their beds
Or under green sods lay.
Once, while he nodded in a chair
At the moth-hour of the eve
Another poor man sent for him,
And he began to grieve.
'I have no rest, nor joy, nor peace,
For people die and die;
And after cried he, 'God forgive!
My body spake not I!'
He knelt, and leaning on the chair
He prayed and fell asleep;
And the moth-hour went from the fields,
And stars began to peep.
They slowly into millions grew,
And leaves shook in the wind
And God covered the world with shade
And whispered to mankind.
Upon the time of sparrow chirp
When the moths came once more,
The old priest Peter Gilligan
Stood upright on the floor.
'Mavrone, mavrone! The man has died
While I slept in the chair.'
He roused his horse out of its sleep
And rode with little care.
He rode now as he never rode,
By rocky lane and fen;
The sick man's wife opened the door,
'Father! you come again!'
'And is the poor man dead?' he cried
'He died an hour ago.'
The old priest Peter Gilligan
In grief swayed to and fro.
'When you were gone, he turned and died,
As merry as a bird.'
The old priest Peter Gilligan
He knelt him at that word.
'He Who hath made the night of stars
For souls who tire and bleed,
Sent one of this great angels down,
To help me in my need.
'He Who is wrapped in purple robes,
With planets in His care
Had pity on the least of things
Asleep upon a chair.'
The Ballad Of Father Gilligan
The old priest Peter Gilligan
Was weary night and day
For half his flock were in their beds
Or under green sods lay.
Once, while he nodded in a chair
At the moth-hour of the eve
Another poor man sent for him,
And he began to grieve.
'I have no rest, nor joy, nor peace,
For people die and die;
And after cried he, 'God forgive!
My body spake not I!'
He knelt, and leaning on the chair
He prayed and fell asleep;
And the moth-hour went from the fields,
And stars began to peep.
They slowly into millions grew,
And leaves shook in the wind
And God covered the world with shade
And whispered to mankind.
Upon the time of sparrow chirp
When the moths came once more,
The old priest Peter Gilligan
Stood upright on the floor.
'Mavrone, mavrone! The man has died
While I slept in the chair.'
He roused his horse out of its sleep
And rode with little care.
He rode now as he never rode,
By rocky lane and fen;
The sick man's wife opened the door,
'Father! you come again!'
'And is the poor man dead?' he cried
'He died an hour ago.'
The old priest Peter Gilligan
In grief swayed to and fro.
'When you were gone, he turned and died,
As merry as a bird.'
The old priest Peter Gilligan
He knelt him at that word.
'He Who hath made the night of stars
For souls who tire and bleed,
Sent one of this great angels down,
To help me in my need.
'He Who is wrapped in purple robes,
With planets in His care
Had pity on the least of things
Asleep upon a chair.'
March 24, 2025
Everyone should read poetry. It poetically conveys the authors mind and his life's imprint of the era.
March 5, 2022
Exhilaration with Some Nausea
Reading the selected works of William Butler Yeats is like an exhilarating but occasionally nauseating trip through the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
He begins his verse in the style of the Romantics then becomes perhaps the most important English language poet of the Symbolist movement. He also successfully devotes himself to the cause of forging an Irish literary tradition for the nascent Irish Free State. Finally, he anticipates Jung in seeing the psychological ramifications of the symbols and rituals of the world’s religions.
But then there is also Yeats’s Jungian shadow. He delves deeply into occult literature and black magic. He devotes much time to constructing what we now be called a new age description of the personality. And some of his last writings call for eugenic measures against Irish Catholics and support for the Fascist European states of the 1930s (he passed away in 1939.)
I don’t mention these to diminish his immense contributions to modern civilization. Just that he is a more complex and nuanced character than may appear from his ingenious poetic and critical works. He’s worth reading, of course, but it’s best to go in open-eyed about these darker features.
Reading the selected works of William Butler Yeats is like an exhilarating but occasionally nauseating trip through the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
He begins his verse in the style of the Romantics then becomes perhaps the most important English language poet of the Symbolist movement. He also successfully devotes himself to the cause of forging an Irish literary tradition for the nascent Irish Free State. Finally, he anticipates Jung in seeing the psychological ramifications of the symbols and rituals of the world’s religions.
But then there is also Yeats’s Jungian shadow. He delves deeply into occult literature and black magic. He devotes much time to constructing what we now be called a new age description of the personality. And some of his last writings call for eugenic measures against Irish Catholics and support for the Fascist European states of the 1930s (he passed away in 1939.)
I don’t mention these to diminish his immense contributions to modern civilization. Just that he is a more complex and nuanced character than may appear from his ingenious poetic and critical works. He’s worth reading, of course, but it’s best to go in open-eyed about these darker features.
April 26, 2024
"On a Picture of a Black Centaur by Edmund Dulac"
Your hooves have stamped at the black margin of the wood,
Even where horrible green parrots call and swing.
My works are all stamped down into the sultry mud.
I knew that horse-play, knew it for a murderous thing.
What wholesome sun has ripened is wholesome food to eat,
And that alone; yet I, being driven half insane
Because of some green wing, gathered old mummy wheat
In the mad abstract dark and ground it grain by grain
And after baked it slowly in an oven; but now
I bring full-flavoured wine out of a barrel found
Where seven Ephesian topers slept and never knew
When Alexander's empire passed, they slept so sound.
Stretch out your limbs and sleep a long Saturnian sleep;
I have loved you better than my soul for all my words,
And there is none so fit to keep a watch and keep
Unwearied eyes upon those horrible green birds.
if this isnt the best collection of words in the best order ever written idk what is this shit like the bible. genuinely goes so hard if we put some future ad libs in it would be alabaster perfection
Your hooves have stamped at the black margin of the wood,
Even where horrible green parrots call and swing.
My works are all stamped down into the sultry mud.
I knew that horse-play, knew it for a murderous thing.
What wholesome sun has ripened is wholesome food to eat,
And that alone; yet I, being driven half insane
Because of some green wing, gathered old mummy wheat
In the mad abstract dark and ground it grain by grain
And after baked it slowly in an oven; but now
I bring full-flavoured wine out of a barrel found
Where seven Ephesian topers slept and never knew
When Alexander's empire passed, they slept so sound.
Stretch out your limbs and sleep a long Saturnian sleep;
I have loved you better than my soul for all my words,
And there is none so fit to keep a watch and keep
Unwearied eyes upon those horrible green birds.
if this isnt the best collection of words in the best order ever written idk what is this shit like the bible. genuinely goes so hard if we put some future ad libs in it would be alabaster perfection
November 9, 2011
I had a hardcover collection of Yeat's poems for a number of years but it may be gone now and may well not have been this particular book or edition. It contained my favorite poem, "The Song of the Wandering Angus". Made into a sort of art/folk song and performed by Judy Collins on one of her albums in the 60's. The name of the album was "Golden Apples of the Sun"(from the poem).
I went out to the hazel wood
Because a fire was in my head,
Cut and peeled a hazel wand
And hooked a berry to a thread.
And when white moths were on the wing
And moth-like stars were flickering out,
I dropped the berry in a stream
and caught a little silver trout.
It goes on further from there...
That's from the memory of an aging man(like Angus). Date read is approximate.
I went out to the hazel wood
Because a fire was in my head,
Cut and peeled a hazel wand
And hooked a berry to a thread.
And when white moths were on the wing
And moth-like stars were flickering out,
I dropped the berry in a stream
and caught a little silver trout.
It goes on further from there...
That's from the memory of an aging man(like Angus). Date read is approximate.
December 18, 2022
His early poems are ok, but Yeats for me really got good from "The Green Helmet" and onwards into his final 'old man facing death' phase. Usually 2-3 amazing poems alongside many good ones in each collection from that point.
I did find his mysticism and occult stuff (+ gyre theory, what's that about?) go over my head a lot of the time - some poems just fell completely flat and were just words - but even then they were usually beautiful poems regardless.
I did find his mysticism and occult stuff (+ gyre theory, what's that about?) go over my head a lot of the time - some poems just fell completely flat and were just words - but even then they were usually beautiful poems regardless.
July 12, 2011
I love, love, love this man!!!! Too bad I can't meet him. I will continue his poetry till the day I die. This book will remain next to my bed for the rest of my reading career-- along with Rilke, Marcus Aurelius and the Tao.
January 3, 2015
Arguably the greatest poetry ever written in the English language. His ear for language is astounding. I liken it to "open voicings" in music. "Put away the bitter unavailing outcries. . ." Does it get better than that?
October 27, 2020
A very mixed reaction to this. Some of the earlier poems are accessible and very meaningful, but many of the later stuff requires a great deal of cross-referencing to the notes at the end. Clearly an immensely important opus of work, but not always easy.
April 15, 2021
I, the poet William Yeats,
With old mill boards and sea-green slates,
And smithy work from the Gort forge,
Restored this tower for my wife George.
And may these characters remain
When all is ruin once again.
With old mill boards and sea-green slates,
And smithy work from the Gort forge,
Restored this tower for my wife George.
And may these characters remain
When all is ruin once again.
March 14, 2024
Really enjoyed seeing how Yeats’ writing and musings about the panorama of life metamorphoses with age. The poems from his youth are beautiful but I was particularly gripped by the deep emotional turbulences in his later works. Some of them still strike a cord.
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May 1, 2017Macmillan (1950)
April 14, 2021
Yeats' general style isn't for me, but I enjoyed several of his poems and seeing how he changed his format over the years.
skip
December 8, 2022Spreken mij niet aan
March 15, 2023
Pretty! I love this guy.
November 14, 2025
i love the way he writes
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews