William Butler Yeats

(1865-1939)
“The greatest poet of
our time, certainly
the greatest poet in
this language, and,
so far as I can tell,
in any language.”
~T.S.
Eliot
 A Family of Artists
• William Butler Yeats was born on June 13,
1865 in Dublin.
• His father was a lawyer of sorts who
turned Pre-Raphaelite painter.
• In 1867 the family followed him to London
and settled in Bedford Park.
• In 1881 (Yeats = 16) they returned to
Dublin, where Yeats studied at the
Metropolitan School of Art.
 Father, Son, and Brother

A painting by Jack B Yeats

(W.B. Yeats’s brother)
A portrait of W.B. Yeats
(painted by his father)
Identity Crisis—or—Contrasts
and Balance
• While Yeats was born in Ireland’s
East, some of his early days and later
family jaunts were spent in Sligo, a
western city he sees as his home.
• While he is part of the Protestant
Ascendancy, he and his family
support the Irish Nationalist
movements.
 Sligo

Dublin
London
Coole Park
The Lake Isle of Innisfree
Sligo, Ireland
 Changing Interests
• As a student at the Metropolitan School
of Art, Yeats was uninspired.
• While there he met the poet, dramatist,
and painter George Russell (1867-
1935).
• Russell was interested in mysticism,
and his search inspired Yeats to explore
reincarnation, the supernatural, and
“Oriental mysticism.”
 A Writer is Born
• Yeats made his literary debut in 1885,
when his first poems were published
in The Dublin University Review.
• In 1887, the family returned to
Bedford Park (London), and Yeats
devoted himself to writing the poetry
that would fill his first few volumes.
 Maud Gonne
• Yeats met the love of his life, Maud Gonne, in
1889.
• She was an actress who was financially
independent
• She was also an Irish revolutionary who became
a major figure in Yeats’s life and work.
• Yeats wrote poetry for her, asked her to marry
him multiple times, and many biographers claim
he worshipped her.
• When she married another in 1903, Yeats wrote
“No Second Troy.”
Maud Gonne (left) and Georgiana Hyde-Lees
 A Different Agenda
• Maud Gonne influenced Yeats to join
the revolutionary organization the
Irish Republican Brotherhood.
• By 1896 Yeats began work reforming
the Irish Literary Society, and then
the National Literary Society in
Dublin, which aimed to promote the
New Irish Library.
 Lady Gregory And the Abbey Theater
• In 1897, Yeats met Lady Gregory. Yeats,
Gregory, Synge, and others founded the
Irish Literary Theatre.

Lady Gregory

The Old Abbey Theater J.M. Synge

 Thoor Ballyle
• In early 1917, Yeats
bought Thoor Ballyle, a
derelict Norman stone
tower near Coole Park.
• After restoring it, the
tower became his
summer home and a
central symbol in his
later poetry.
• In 1917 he married
Georgie Hyde-Lees.
Yeats is buried in Sligo
 Phases of Yeats’ Style
1. Post-Romantic
Romantic
2. British Symbolist/
Modernist
“The Second Coming” 1920
Titular Allusions
 “The Second Coming” 1920
• Spiritus Mundi: a Latin term that literally means
‘world spirit.’
– Sort of like a collective unconscious mind for the whole
world
– In Spiritus Mundi, there is, according to William Butler
Yeats: “a universal memory and a ‘muse’ of sorts that
provides inspiration to the poet or writer.”
• Sphinx: a mythical creature with the head of a
human and the body of a lion.
– Characterized as treacherous and merciless.
– Those who cannot answer its riddle are killed and eaten by
this ravenous monster.
 “The Second Coming” 1920
• Gyre:
– a recurring symbol in Yeats’s poetry:
• Yeats wrote a poem called “The Gyres” in The Tower
– Symbolizes the alternation between two historical cycles:
one characterized by order and growth, the other by chaos
and decay. #yinandyang