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William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)

Author of Collected Poems

751+ Works 21,557 Members 183 Reviews 168 Favorited

About the Author

William Butler Yeats was born in Dublin, Ireland on June 13, 1865. He 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 playwright until the movement was joined by John Synge. Yeats' show more plays included The Countess Cathleen, The Land of Heart's Desire, Cathleen ni Houlihan, The King's Threshold, and Deirdre. 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. He was appointed to the Irish Senate in 1922. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1923 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 is one of the few writers who completed their greatest works after being awarded the Nobel Prize. His poetry collections include The Wild Swans at Coole, Michael Robartes and the Dancer, The Tower, The Winding Stair and Other Poems, and Last Poems and Plays. He died on January 28, 1939 at the age of 73. (Bowker Author Biography) show less

Includes the names: W Yeats, W.B.Yeats, Yeats W B, W.G. Yeats, W. B. Yeats, Y. B. Yeats, イエイツ, イエーツ, William Yeats, ed. W.B. Yeats, B. William Yeats, William B. Yeats, William B. Yeats, Ed. W. B.: YEATS, W.B. イエーツ, W.B. イェイツ, У. Б. Йейтс, W.B. Yeats; Editor, William Buter Yeats, Wiliam Butler Yeats, William Butle Yeats, W.B. YEATS - Editor, William Butler Yeats, W・B・イェイツ, William Butler Yates, W・B・イエイツ, William Butler Yates, William Butler Yeats, William Butler Yeats, Willaim Butler Yeats, William Butler Yeats, William Butler Yeats, Edited By W.B. Yeats, Edited By W. B. Yeats, WILLIAM BUTLERE YEATS, B. (William Butler) W., W. B. (William Butler), William Butler] [Yeats, William Butler Yeats ed., Ye Ci Bian . Yuan Ke Jia Yi, Edited by William Butler Yeats, W. B. (William Butler) Ed Yeats, W. B. and M. L. Rosenthal Yeats, W. B. William Butler; Yeats Yeats, W. B. Yeats (William Butler Yeats), Уильям Батлер Йейтс, M. L. (editor) W. B.; Rosenthal Yeats, W. B.; A Norman Jeffares (Editor) Yeats, J. B. (illustration) W. B.; Yeats Yeats, A Norman (editor) W.B. ; Jeffares Yeats, M. L. William Butler and Rosenthal Yeats, W.B.; edited by A. Norman Jeffares Yeats, Augustine (editor) W. B. .. Martin Yeats, ウィリアム・バトラー イエイツ, ウィリアム・バトラー イェイツ, William Butler; Edited By M. L. Rosenthal Yeats, J. Norman William Butler] Jeffares [Yeats, editor, M. L. (EDT)/ ROSENTHAL W. B./ ROSENTHAL YEATS, M., M.L. (Edited & In William Butler; Rosenthal Yeats, W. B. [William Butler]. Illustrated By Robin Jacqu, William Butler; William Butler Yeats (Author); M.L, William Butler Yeats; with a forward by James S. Johnson

Image credit: Photograph by George Beresford (1911)

Series

Works by William Butler Yeats

Collected Poems (1974) 3,522 copies
Fairy and Folk Tales of Ireland (1888) — Editor — 2,660 copies
Selected Poems (1991) 973 copies
The Celtic twilight (1893) 662 copies
Mythologies (1959) 438 copies
A Vision (1925) 318 copies
Early Poems (1993) 291 copies
W.B. Yeats: Selected Poems (2002) 258 copies
The Tower (1928) 256 copies
Autobiography of William Butler Yeats (1935) — Author — 244 copies
The Poems (Everyman) (1992) 213 copies
Autobiographies (1927) 209 copies
The Oxford Book of Modern Verse 1892-1935 (1936) — Editor — 166 copies
Essays & Introductions (1961) 152 copies
The Secret Rose (1975) 99 copies
The Wild Swans at Coole (1920) 76 copies
The Land of Heart's Desire (1894) 75 copies
Fairy Tales of Ireland (1990) 72 copies
Memoirs (1972) 57 copies
Yeats's Poems (1961) 54 copies
The Gonne-Yeats Letters 1893-1938 (1992) — Author — 52 copies
Under the Moon (1995) 49 copies
Selected Plays (1964) 47 copies
Stories of Red Hanrahan (1908) 44 copies
John Sherman, and Dhoya (1891) 43 copies
Explorations (1962) 38 copies
W.B.Yeats: The Love Poems (1990) 36 copies
Cathleen Ni Houlihan (1902) 36 copies
Ideas of Good and Evil (1908) 32 copies
The Hour Glass (1903) 30 copies
The Countess Cathleen (1892) 30 copies
Quaranta poesie (1965) 29 copies
Rosa Alchemica (1901) 28 copies
The Wind Among the Reeds (1902) 26 copies
Great Irish Plays (1995) 26 copies
Best-Loved Yeats (2010) 26 copies
W.B. Yeats: Selected Poems (2002) 24 copies
Antología bilingüe (1996) 23 copies
The Second Coming (2010) 22 copies
Selected Prose (1964) 21 copies
Racconti Gialli (1992) 20 copies
Antología poética (1901) 18 copies
Selected Criticism (1964) 17 copies
Later poems (1922) 16 copies
Yeats (1963) 16 copies
Running to Paradise (1967) 16 copies
The Trembling of the Veil (1922) 15 copies
The letters of W. B. Yeats (1954) 15 copies
Per amica silentia lunae (1917) 15 copies
Yeats: 30 Poemas (1998) 15 copies
Representative Irish Tales (1979) 14 copies
Early Poems and Stories (1925) 14 copies
Four Years (1971) 14 copies
Crossways (2004) 13 copies
Uncollected Prose, Volume 2 (1975) 12 copies
Geef nooit het hele hart (1982) 12 copies
The Shadowy Waters (2004) 12 copies
The Wanderings Of Oisin (1889) 11 copies
Deirdre (1907) 10 copies
Liebesgedichte (1976) 10 copies
The Cutting of an Agate (2007) 10 copies
Last poems and two plays (1940) 10 copies
Irish Fairy Tales (2001) 10 copies
The Rose (2004) 9 copies
Byzantium (1800) 9 copies
Sophocles' King Oedipus (1928) 9 copies
On Baile's Strand (1904) 9 copies
Gedichten, toneel (1964) 9 copies
Runoja (1966) 9 copies
BELTAINE (2012) 9 copies
Drammi celtici (1988) 9 copies
Poesía y teatro (1986) 9 copies
Plays in prose and verse (1922) 9 copies
Purgatory (1986) 8 copies
Where there is nothing (2011) 8 copies
Irish Folk Tales (1973) 8 copies
Poesie (1999) 8 copies
The winding stair (1995) 8 copies
Uma antologia (1996) 7 copies
The King's Threshold (1904) 7 copies
Four plays for dancers (1921) 7 copies
Three Irish plays (1962) — Contributor — 7 copies
At the Hawk's Well (1953) 7 copies
Plays and Controversies (1924) 7 copies
Poemas (2000) 6 copies
The speckled bird (1977) 6 copies
Mosada A dramatic poem (1970) 6 copies
The Poems of W. B. Yeats (2006) 6 copies
Trenta-quatre poemes (1983) 5 copies
The W.B. Yeats Collection (2015) 5 copies
Ausgewählte Werke (1970) 5 copies
Three things (1929) 5 copies
Her Sey Ayartabilir Beni (2014) 5 copies
Luulet (1990) 5 copies
33 poesie (1997) 5 copies
Spiritus Mundi 5 copies
A Packet for Ezra Pound (1970) 4 copies
De spiraal (2017) 4 copies
İrlanda Masalları (2019) 4 copies
Choix de poèmes (1992) 4 copies
The pot of broth (1904) 4 copies
On the boiler (1938) 4 copies
Poems, 1899-1905. (1906) 4 copies
Two plays for dancers (1970) 4 copies
Flamman och skuggan (2002) 4 copies
Druid Craft: The Writing of the Shadowy Waters (1971) — Author — 4 copies
teatro 4 copies
40 dikt (2020) 3 copies
Poetry and Ireland (1970) 3 copies
Death of Synge (1970) 3 copies
The Bounty Of Sweden (1971) 3 copies
Objevy (1995) 3 copies
L'espasa i la torre (2006) 3 copies
Antología poética (2010) 3 copies
Rewriting the hour-glass (2016) 3 copies
The Sayings of W.B. Yeats (1993) 3 copies
L'unicorn astral (1984) 3 copies
enfances et jeunes t.1 (1990) 3 copies
After Long Silence {poem} (2013) 3 copies
La magia (2019) 3 copies
Le ultime poesie (2004) 3 copies
Calvary 3 copies
The Herne's Egg (1991) 3 copies
Rosa alchemica (1913) 2 copies
Cinquante et un poèmes (1989) 2 copies
The collected poems (1996) 2 copies
New Poems (1970) 2 copies
Onde Nada Existe (2000) 2 copies
Dernières pièces (2003) 2 copies
The Poetry of W. B. Yeats (2010) 2 copies
Poemas Escolhidos (2017) 2 copies
YEATS (1987) 2 copies
Büyü (2006) 2 copies
The Sorcerers (1893) 2 copies
30poemas 2 copies
Land of Hearts Desire (1900) 2 copies
Fiabe irlandesi (1981) 2 copies
Modern poetry (1977) 2 copies
Nine poems 2 copies
The Tables Of The Law (2012) 2 copies
Poems of Yeats 2 copies
La torre y el unicornio (1990) 2 copies
Encrucijadas (2006) 2 copies
Magia (2014) 2 copies
Théâtre 2 copies
Selected Poems Minibook (2019) 2 copies
Poems of Place 2 copies
Розы и башни (1999) 2 copies
The Hour Glass 2 copies
70 ερωτικά (2000) 1 copy
L'uccello maculato (1990) 1 copy
Yeats, W. B. 1 copy
Dramaty (1994) 1 copy
Dramatis personae (1971) 1 copy
Kelt Safagi (2007) 1 copy
Verso Bisanzio, Poesie (2015) 1 copy
Mitologías (2012) 1 copy
Opere 1 copy
[No title] 1 copy
Poemas 1 copy
La poverella 1 copy
Choix de poèmes (1975) 1 copy
Poesìa 1 copy
El temblor del velo (2022) 1 copy
Stories from Carleton — Introduction — 1 copy
Sazliktaki Rüzgar (2019) 1 copy
Milosc to wybor losu (2023) 1 copy
Bisanzio: poesie (2012) 1 copy
Sword Against the Sea (2013) 1 copy
W. B. Yeats 1 copy
A Voice 1 copy
The Devil 1 copy
Kidnappers 1 copy
Simbolos (1977) 1 copy
The Old Town 1 copy
A Coward 1 copy
A Visionary 1 copy
The Death Of Synge (1928) 1 copy
POEMS (1922) 1 copy
Mortal Help 1 copy
W.B. Yeats (2002) 1 copy
poesia 1 copy
The Arrow 1 copy
Sixteen Poems (2011) 1 copy
Letters 1 copy
War 1 copy
Eight poems 1 copy

Associated Works

The Complete Poems (Penguin Classics) (1827) — Editor, some editions — 1,292 copies
Gitanjali (1910) — Introduction, some editions; Introduction, some editions; Introduction, some editions; Introduction, some editions; Translator, some editions; Translator, some editions — 1,289 copies
The Making of a Poem: A Norton Anthology of Poetic Forms (2000) — Contributor — 1,254 copies
Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama (1995) — Contributor, some editions — 915 copies
The Nation's Favourite Poems (1996) — some editions — 622 copies
The Book of Fantasy (1940) — Contributor — 601 copies
The Best Loved Poems of Jacqueline Kennedy-Onassis (2001) — Contributor — 545 copies
A Treasury of Irish Myth, Legend, and Folklore (1986) — Contributor — 501 copies
The Victorian Fairytale Book (1988) — Contributor — 461 copies
The Penguin Book of War (1999) — Contributor — 450 copies
A Pocket Book of Modern Verse (1954) — Contributor, some editions — 443 copies
Critical Theory Since Plato (1971) — Contributor, some editions — 398 copies
The Rag and Bone Shop of the Heart: A Poetry Anthology (1992) — Contributor — 388 copies
Eight Great Tragedies (1957) — Contributor — 385 copies
The Faber Book of Modern Verse (1936) — Contributor, some editions — 284 copies
24 Favorite One Act Plays (1958) — Contributor — 283 copies
Witches & Warlocks: Tales of Black Magic, Old & New (1991) — Contributor — 283 copies
The Penguin Book of Contemporary Verse (1950) — Contributor, some editions — 264 copies
Cuchulain of Muirthemne (1902) — Foreword — 248 copies
Lady Gregory's Complete Irish Mythology (1994) — Preface — 244 copies
The Literary Cat (1977) — Contributor — 241 copies
The Penguin Book of Irish Verse (1981) — Contributor — 193 copies
Elsewhere: Tales of Fantasy (1982) — Contributor — 143 copies
Great Irish Short Stories (1964) — Contributor — 142 copies
The Faber Book of Beasts (1997) — Contributor — 140 copies
The Nyarlathotep Cycle (1997) — Contributor — 139 copies
Witches' Brew (2002) — Contributor — 126 copies
The Playboy of the Western World and Two Other Irish Plays (1892) — Contributor — 126 copies
Irish Tales of Terror (1988) — Contributor — 125 copies
Poetry of the First World War: an anthology (2013) — Contributor — 124 copies
Major British Writers, Volumes I and II (1954) — Contributor — 122 copies
The Standard Book of British and American Verse (1932) — Contributor — 114 copies
The Classic Noh Theatre of Japan (New Directions Paperbook) (1916) — Introduction, some editions — 113 copies
The Book of Cats (1976) — Contributor — 106 copies
One Act: Eleven Short Plays of the Modern Theater (1961) — Contributor — 106 copies
Great Irish Tales of Fantasy and Myth (1994) — Contributor — 105 copies
Visions and Beliefs in the West of Ireland (1920) — Contributor — 104 copies
The Ten Principal Upanishads (1937) — Translator, some editions — 96 copies
The Norton Book of Friendship (1991) — Contributor — 95 copies
Decadent Poetry (2006) — Contributor — 91 copies
Poems to See By: A Comic Artist Interprets Great Poetry (2020) — Contributor — 88 copies
The Modern Theatre, Volume 2 (1955) — Contributor — 77 copies
Great Stories by Nobel Prize Winners (1959) — Contributor — 76 copies
The Everyman Anthology of Poetry for Children (1994) — Contributor — 72 copies
Traveller's Library (1933) — Contributor — 70 copies
Axël (1912) — Preface, some editions — 70 copies
Gods and Mortals: Modern Poems on Classical Myths (1684) — Contributor — 68 copies
The Bedside Book of Famous British Stories (1940) — Contributor — 66 copies
The Hungry Ear: Poems of Food and Drink (2012) — Contributor — 63 copies
The Genius of the Irish Theater (1960) — Contributor — 61 copies
Irish Folk and Fairy Tales (1992) — Contributor — 59 copies
Great Irish Short Stories (Dover Thrift Editions) (2005) — Contributor — 59 copies
The Arbor House Treasury of Mystery and Suspense (1981) — Contributor — 52 copies
The Fairies' Ring (1999) — Contributor — 48 copies
Prose and Poetry for Appreciation (1934) — Contributor, some editions — 44 copies
The Little Book of Horrors (1992) — Contributor — 41 copies
Poetry of Witness: The Tradition in English, 1500-2001 (2014) — Contributor — 41 copies
A Quarto of Modern Literature (1935) — Contributor — 39 copies
Great Irish Stories of the Supernatural (1992) — Contributor — 39 copies
The Necromancers (1971) — Contributor — 34 copies
13 Plays of Ghosts and the Supernatural (1990) — Contributor — 28 copies
A Skeleton At the Helm (2008) — Contributor — 27 copies
Angels of Darkness: Tales of Troubled and Troubling Women (1995) — Contributor — 27 copies
Oscar Wilde: A Collection of Critical Essays (1969) — Contributor — 26 copies
One World of Literature (1992) — Contributor — 24 copies
Enter at Your Own Risk: Old Masters, New Voices (2011) — Contributor — 23 copies
And the Darkness Falls (1946) — Contributor — 21 copies
100 Story Poems (1951) — Contributor — 20 copies
Selections from the Writings of Lord Dunsany (1912) — Introduction — 20 copies
AQA Anthology (2002) — Author, some editions — 19 copies
The Magicians: Occult Stories (1972) — Contributor — 18 copies
Loss: An Anthology (1997) — Contributor — 18 copies
Ellery Queen's Poetic Justice (1967) — Contributor, some editions — 18 copies
Wild Night Company: Irish Tales of Terror (1970) — Contributor — 17 copies
Twelve Classic One-Act Plays (2010) — Contributor — 17 copies
Masters of British Literature, Volume B (2007) — Contributor — 16 copies
Certain Noble Plays of Japan (1971) — Introduction, some editions — 15 copies
Poems of Magic and Spells (1960) — Contributor — 14 copies
Nobel Writers on Writing (2000) — Contributor — 14 copies
Fairy Poems (2023) — Contributor — 13 copies
The Religion of Beauty: Selections from the Aesthetes (1950) — Contributor — 11 copies
Bright Poems for Dark Days: An Anthology for Hope (2021) — Contributor — 9 copies
Men and Women: The Poetry of Love (1970) — Contributor — 8 copies
A book of images (2008) — Introduction — 7 copies
Cricket Magazine, Vol. 2, No. 1, September 1974 (1974) — Contributor — 7 copies
Poetry anthology (2000) — Contributor, some editions — 6 copies
Jabberwocky 2 (2005) — Contributor — 5 copies
Selected Ballads (2002) — Contributor — 5 copies
Poems of William Blake (ed. Yeats) — Editor — 5 copies
Cricket Magazine, Vol. 1, No. 2, October 1973 (1973) — Contributor — 5 copies
The Zaffre Book of Occult Fiction (2023) — Contributor — 3 copies
The Sixties, Number 7, Winter 1964 (1964) — Contributor — 2 copies
The Dial, Vol LXXVII No 3, September 1924 — Contributor, some editions — 1 copy
Wakacje Wśród Duchów — Contributor — 1 copy

Tagged

(480) 19th century (181) 20th century (307) anthology (1,371) cats (136) Celtic (224) classics (180) collection (173) drama (523) English (117) English literature (207) essays (163) fairy tales (574) fantasy (297) fiction (1,017) Folio Society (106) folklore (516) folktales (180) history (134) horror (128) Ireland (960) Irish (676) Irish literature (531) Irish poetry (168) Kindle (109) literary criticism (153) literature (964) non-fiction (372) own (107) plays (272) poems (168) poetry (6,708) read (117) reference (113) short stories (482) theatre (133) to-read (1,035) unread (121) William Butler Yeats (197) Yeats (366)

Common Knowledge

Members

Reviews

Nobody writes like Yeats:

A woman’s beauty is a storm-tossed banner;
Under it wisdom stands, and I alone —
Of all Arabia’s lovers I alone —
Nor dazzled by the embroidery, nor lost
In the confusion of its night-dark folds,
Can hear the armed man speak.
 
Flagged
sircalidore | 25 other reviews | Mar 9, 2024 |
 
Flagged
CADesertReader | Feb 29, 2024 |
Only read 18 selected poems (via TWEM). Many of Yeats' poems were about nature, history, and old age.

My favorite was The Lake of Isle of Innisfree, and this was my little review:

Oh, I just love this poem, though I do not know the Lake Isle of Innisfree...(it is in Ireland, and must be beautiful).

I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,
And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made;
Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honey-bee,
And live alone in the bee-loud glade.

And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow,
Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings;
There midnight’s all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow,
And evening full of the linnet’s wings.

I will arise and go now, for always night and day
I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;
While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey,
I hear it in the deep heart’s core.

What wonderful imagery, especially standing on the roadway or some grey pavement. Yeats can imagine this peaceful place deep in his heart. It reminds me so much of Walden and his cabin in Concord, MA. Who doesn't want peace in his life? Who doesn't find it in nature and alone with nature.

I love his declaration in the middle of the roadway, "I will go now!" Maybe he means to escape NOW or maybe he means he will disappear into his imagination NOW.

He knows exactly what he will have when he gets there: a fence, nine rows of beans, and a hive for the honey bees. It will be just him and the bees.

It's a beautiful, peaceful poem. I give it an A plus!
… (more)
1 vote
Flagged
GRLopez | Dec 3, 2023 |
While I liked a few of the poems in this selection, most were just humdrum for me. I didn't hate them or find them impossible to understand (which is far too often the case with poetry for me) but they didn't speak to me.

These are the poems I liked best in the collection: "An Irish Airman Foresees His Death", "The Living Beauty", "The Hawk", "The Cat and the Moon" and "Another Song of a Fool"
 
Flagged
leslie.98 | 4 other reviews | Jun 27, 2023 |

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Associated Authors

Douglas Hyde Contributor
John Kelly Editor
Maud Gonne Author
Jack Yeats Illustrator
O. Henry Author
Samuel Lover Contributor
William Allingham Contributor
William Carleton Contributor
T. Crofton Croker Contributor
Letitia Maclintock Contributor
Samuel Ferguson Contributor
John Todhunter Contributor
Patrick Kennedy Contributor
Mary Helen Thuente Contributor
Lady Wilde Contributor
Standish O'Grady Contributor
P. J. Lynch Illustrator
Abraham McCoy Contributor
Lady Wilde Contributor
Anonymous Contributor
Gerald Griffin Contributor
D. R. McAnally Jr. Contributor
Leitch Ritchie Contributor
T. W. Rolleston Contributor
Mrs. Crowe Contributor
Edward Walsh Contributor
J. J. Callanan Translator
Joseph Jacobs Contributor
Ellen O'Leary Contributor
Richard Eberhart Introduction
加島 祥造 Translator
Susan Mitchell Cover designer
Robert Mathias Cover designer
Cedric Watts Introduction
Howard Coster Cover artist
TAYLOR GALLERY Cover artist
Richard Dadd Cover artist
Brian Froud Cover artist
David Ter-Avanesyan Cover designer
Linda Garland Cover artist
Susanne Schaup Übersetzer, Translator
Wolfgang Wicht Herausgeber
Robin Jacques Illustrator
Walter Starkie Introduction
Ernst E. Stein Translator
A. Roland Holst Translator
Guy Chain Translator

Statistics

Works
751
Also by
131
Members
21,557
Popularity
#999
Rating
4.0
Reviews
183
ISBNs
1,106
Languages
21
Favorited
168

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