William Butler YeatsEssay Preview: William Butler YeatsReport this essayWilliam Butler YeatsAn Irish poet, dramatist, and prose writerKnown for having intellectual and often obsucure poetry worksQuoted to be “one of the greatest English-language poets of the 20th century”Even Received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1923What was most recognizable about that fact is that he is famous for his lyrical poetic works that came after the prizeYeats war born in 1865 in DublinYeatss childhood was broad in education and personal experiences. Yeats became a youth full of emotional contradictions. Spiritually, educationally, and personally, Yeats seemed to pull himself in different directions, unable to decide on a clear path. These internal contradictions would come to shape the writer and man that he would one day become.
William Butler YeatsAn Irish poet, dramatist, and prose writerKnown for having intellectual and often obsucure poetry worksQuoted to be “one of the greatest English-language poets of the 20th centuryBy William Butler Yeats(and perhaps George Eliot, too)Yeatss, from his own account, was just the son of a wealthy family in Dublin before his father died. (He would grow up in Clacton, Ireland but eventually in Belfast.) But life in Ireland was much better under the tutelage of Yeats than in England. Yeats’ life in England was much simpler than that of other writers. Yeats saw the world from different angles in the Irish language and he was able to do things in his own language, like speak and read as he wished, though this was different in English, which he often relied on. There seems to be very little of a direct influence on his writing between Irish-language and English-language. Yeats’ writing on the topic of human behavior does not seem to have touched his writing in English. Instead, he would write poetry on the topic of human desire, and, sometimes, the subject of the poem. For instance, in his 1868 novel The Lion King he wrote about the idea that the lion and man should be separated for good. It was that idea which later, in another novel, is used by the poet to express the idea of human love for humanity. (As translated by Jonathan M. Mazzucchelli, Esquire, November 18, 1859).The man did that in 1877 and it took a long time for him to feel satisfied that it felt good to be on the top of this world. Yeats had a large share of love and admiration for this beautiful woman. And the love and admiration he felt for women who would speak up for him was the inspiration for his own novels.”That’s a very good poem,” said Mr. Yeats when he got word of the “Good Day” greeting and said that the poem was his favorite of his novels. When Mr. Yeats spoke about this poem Yeats would say: “Don’t you need to know me again.” I will say now that as a poet he is known for his writing, but this is an important piece of writing not his personal stories. And it is also telling of the writer’s personal relationship to this poem. The reader’s eye and his feelings about what that was will be relevant after we go through that and read the poem. What does this mean? Does it tell us that people are good because of his poetry? Maybe, maybe not. What we’ll find out is that this idea became so powerful that people had to start believing in this poem. It may explain some of the inspiration for another such poems as The Lion King. It may also help to explain why all the others in this poem made it clear that there are no gods. All of us need the love and respect of our heroes. It is not just the poem itself that makes people believe in it, but it also tells us about these people. The poem tells our story and helps illuminate how we think, how we think, as we can see in the world, and how things
William Butler YeatsAn Irish poet, dramatist, and prose writerKnown for having intellectual and often obsucure poetry worksQuoted to be “one of the greatest English-language poets of the 20th centuryBy William Butler Yeats(and perhaps George Eliot, too)Yeatss, from his own account, was just the son of a wealthy family in Dublin before his father died. (He would grow up in Clacton, Ireland but eventually in Belfast.) But life in Ireland was much better under the tutelage of Yeats than in England. Yeats’ life in England was much simpler than that of other writers. Yeats saw the world from different angles in the Irish language and he was able to do things in his own language, like speak and read as he wished, though this was different in English, which he often relied on. There seems to be very little of a direct influence on his writing between Irish-language and English-language. Yeats’ writing on the topic of human behavior does not seem to have touched his writing in English. Instead, he would write poetry on the topic of human desire, and, sometimes, the subject of the poem. For instance, in his 1868 novel The Lion King he wrote about the idea that the lion and man should be separated for good. It was that idea which later, in another novel, is used by the poet to express the idea of human love for humanity. (As translated by Jonathan M. Mazzucchelli, Esquire, November 18, 1859).The man did that in 1877 and it took a long time for him to feel satisfied that it felt good to be on the top of this world. Yeats had a large share of love and admiration for this beautiful woman. And the love and admiration he felt for women who would speak up for him was the inspiration for his own novels.”That’s a very good poem,” said Mr. Yeats when he got word of the “Good Day” greeting and said that the poem was his favorite of his novels. When Mr. Yeats spoke about this poem Yeats would say: “Don’t you need to know me again.” I will say now that as a poet he is known for his writing, but this is an important piece of writing not his personal stories. And it is also telling of the writer’s personal relationship to this poem. The reader’s eye and his feelings about what that was will be relevant after we go through that and read the poem. What does this mean? Does it tell us that people are good because of his poetry? Maybe, maybe not. What we’ll find out is that this idea became so powerful that people had to start believing in this poem. It may explain some of the inspiration for another such poems as The Lion King. It may also help to explain why all the others in this poem made it clear that there are no gods. All of us need the love and respect of our heroes. It is not just the poem itself that makes people believe in it, but it also tells us about these people. The poem tells our story and helps illuminate how we think, how we think, as we can see in the world, and how things
Father was a lawyer turned painterArt was no stranger in his familyBut his religious views wereHis spiritual outlook played significant role in his life and his works. Born into a Protestant family, with a paternal grandfather and great-grandfather having been Anglican clergymen, religion was a constant presence in his childhood. Yeats began to abandon the religion of his Rationalist upbringing and made a new religion out of poetic tradition (Kunitz, 1560).
“You know what the Englishmans idea of compromise is? He says, some people say there is a God. Some people say there is no God. The truth probably lies somewhere between these two statements.”
In his youth he was very interested in the occultstemming from his fascination with Irish folk stories and talesBecame increasingly interested MysticismSpecifically, Reincarnation, communication with the dead, mediums, supernatural systems, and oriental mysticismMuch of his work was influenced by these factors“The mystical life is the centre of all that I do and all that I think and all that I write”1886 Formed the Dublin Lodge of the Hermetic SocietyDonned the name Daemon est Deus InversusSociety discussed such issues as those listed above as well training onself to be a part of itSuch magical training consisted of the learning of magical and esoteric symbols, correspondences, creating interrelationships between the seasons, various parts of the body, the five elements, colors, numbers, etc.
time spent in college and much emotional growth and changePrompted his discovery of Ireland as a literary subject and his commitment to the cause of Irish national identityHe sought in his writing to create a fresh tradition and a unique style. He attempted to create a literature that was Irish in subject matter and tone.
1910, Yeatss dramatic art took a sharp turn toward a highly poetical and mysterious style.His later plays were written for small audiences; they experimented with masks, dance, and music, and were profoundly influenced by the Japanese Noh plays. Although a convinced patriot, Yeats deplored the hatred and the bigotry of the Nationalist movement, and his poetry is full of moving protests against it
His recurrent themes are the contrast of art and life, masks, cyclical theories of life and the ideal of beauty and ceremony contrasting with the chaos of modern life.
Yeats had the unique ability to take fantasy, mysticism ,and the unknown and use it as an analogy to examine and explain the human conditionHe died at the age of 73