"How but in custom and ceremony / Are innocence and beauty born?"
--from "A Prayer for my Daughter"

Most consider William Butler Yeats to be the greatest English-language poet of the twentieth century. Although he can, at times, be a difficult read, he is well worth the effort. Part of the reason for that difficulty is that

Yeats himself, religious by temperament but unable to believe in Christian orthodoxy, sought all his life for traditions of esoteric thought that would compensate for a lost religion. . . . In middle life he elaborated a symbolic system of his own, based on a variety of sources, which enabled him to strengthen the pattern and coherence of his poetic imagery. (Norton 2085)

That often puzzling body of ideas is most fully elaborated in The Vision. Still, "his greatness as a poet lies in his ability to communicate the power and significance of his symbols, by the way he expresses and organizes them, even to readers who know nothing of his system" (Norton 2086).

Following is an overview of Yeats's career. It should be helpful in placing the poems as you read them. (Note the publication date of each.)

1. Aesthetic period. Celtic twiliqht (1889-1899)
Includes three volumes: Crossways (1889), The Rose (1893), and The Wind Among the Reeds (1899).

The Wind Among the Reeds serves as a statement for modernist verse much in the manner that Wordsworth's Lyrical Ballads did for the nineteenth century.

This phase is characterized by:

• poems of longing and lament
• poems which make use of folklore and myth
• poems characterized by a gentle dreaminess, a melancholic tone, a concern with solitary figures, and an Arcadian emphasis

His poetry developed from local poetry dealing with the Sligo area and with Celtic myth to poetry concerned with Ireland as a nation and finally to poetry of a more European nature.

His skepticism was growing at this time, and his search for truth led him toward theosophy, a philosophy which felt truth could be attained through one's insights.

2. Dramatic period (1899-1916)
Much of the poetry is characterized by dramatic imagery. This period shows a growing withdrawal from political fervor and the wasted energy of unrequited love.

In the Seven Woods (1904): the title reflects the influence of Lady Gregory's estate upon his thought. He adopted the notion that one must labor for art to appear spontaneous, to attain beauty, and to find love.

The Green Helmet (1910): poetry seems to be changing. Gone is the languor and resignation of the earlier works. He continues to be disenchanted with unrequited love and his love poetry becomes stagnant. Also, his hopes for a revival of Irish literature begin to wane. His poems begin to show concern with old age.

Responsibilities (1914): comes into his own with a new robustness and sense of commitment. He assumes certain responsibilities to the Irish past and present and to himself as an artist.

3. Metaphysical period (1919-33)
This period is concerned primarily with the spirit, with transience and mutability, and with a longing to transcend into the realm of immutable art and beauty

The Wild Swans at Coole (1919): title poem reflects books major themes. The swans represent a pattern of the death/life cycle which will continue even after Yeats is reawakened or reincarnated.

Michael Robartes and the Dancer (1921): begins to show more concerns with the psychological and historical theories dealt with in The Vision (1925, 1937).

The Tower (1928): provides the first half of a complex pattern which exists in the following work of the fourth period.

4. Maturity (1933-39)
This period is increasingly concerned with the physical aspect of existence.

The Winding Stair and Other Poems (1933): in "A Dialogue of Self and Soul," for example, he shows how he doesn't want to slip off the wheel of existence but demands his right to be reborn and attempt to live his life again without intellectual hatred.

His last volume, Last Poems (1936-39), was published posthumously.

After carefully reading the introduction in your anthology (2085), you should be able to identify and discuss the following people, places, and ideas:

• Irish nationalism
• Maud Gonne
• Lady Gregory
• Coole Park
• Yeats's attitude toward the aristocracy, the middle classes, and the peasantry
• Thoor Ballylee
• automatic writing

A brief look at Yeats's system will help you to understand some of the later poems. Click here for a simplified explanation.

[Note: Our primary focus in this lesson is Yeats. Read the Eliot material in your text (2360) before looking at "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock."]

^© Scott Foll 2000. All rights reserved.