William Butler Yeats

William Butler Yeats

About William Butler Yeats

William Butler Yeats was an Irish poet born in Dublin on June 13, 1865. Yeats started out by studying painting, but he found his true passion was for poetry, which he began to pursue. In addition to writing, Yeats was strongly involved in the politics of Ireland and was appointed to the Irish Senate in 1922. He was involved in the Celtic Revival, which was a movement to rid Ireland of England's cultural influence.

Many of Yeats' poems showed his love and pride for Irish subjects. Some, like those in his collection The Wind among the Reeds (1899), showed his interest in occultism and spiritualism. In 1890 he had joined the Golden Dawn, which was a secret society that practiced ritual magic. He took part in automatic writing, where the hand and pen were instruments for information to be shared from the spirit world.

Another one of Yeats' interests included the theater. He founded the Irish National Theatre Society of which he was president.

For his outstanding work, Yeats received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1923.

He passed away in 1939 at the age of 73.

References

    Poems by William Butler Yeats

  • An Irish Airman Foresees His Death

    Famous Poem

    in Famous Sad Poems

    I know that I shall meet my fate
    Somewhere among the clouds above;
    Those that I fight I do not hate,
    Those that I guard I do not love;

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  • When You Are Old

    Famous Poem

    in Famous Sad Love Poems

    When you are old and grey and full of sleep,
    And nodding by the fire, take down this book,
    And slowly read, and dream of the soft look
    Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep;

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    • Poem of the Week
    • Poem of the Day
    Featured Shared Story

    In this poem, Yeats has used a universal theme. In their youth, many behave in a thoughtless manner and they miss certain things in life. Through his personal experience, Yeats makes the...

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  • To A Young Girl

    Famous Poem

    in Famous Sad Love Poems

    My dear, my dear, I know
    More than another
    What makes your heart beat so;
    Not even your own mother

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    • Stories 0
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    • Favorited 22
    • Votes 258
    • Rating 4.02


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