The Collected Poems of WB Yeats

Yeats, B. William. The Collected Poems of WB Yeats. New York: Macmillan, 1996. 318

The importance of this book is that it contains some of the works of poetry which were carried out by William Yeats. Arguably, the most salient feature in the book is the attempt at portraying the shift that characterized Yeats in his work, so that his works are arranged almost chronologically to underscore this standpoint. Works that depict him as a bard of the Celtic Twilight, reviving Rosicrucian symbols and legends are the most frontal. These are followed up by works which show the shift away from plush romanticism. The same are exhibited by the heavy presence of incantatory rhythms such as “I will arise and go… and go to Innisfree”. The same is seen in the lyrics, “as passionate and cold as the dawn”.

The same works discussed above, seem to have been compiled to show the multiplicity of poetic roles that Yeats plays in the book. For instance, in the poems, A Poet to His Beloved” and, "When you are old” Yeats is seen as a lover. In Yeats’ work of 1931 titled, “The Remorse and Interpretation of Speech”, he comes out as a combative and unrelenting poet of the human conscience. His unrelenting nature is seen in the line, “I carried from my mother’s womb, a fanatic heart.” That Yeats explores the different sides of himself is a matter which is well underscored in this book which is a myriad of collections. The poems indeed, as already mentioned, are diverse in topic and nature. Some of the poems appear spiritualistic, occultist while others appear to be snobbish. Therefore, the book is not just an interesting read in this work on the account that it contains a collection of Yeats’ poetic works, but also because it depicts him as a man of many h...

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...s’ Poetry, Drama and Prose. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, March 3, 2000. Ed. 1.

This book is a collection of the poetry, drama and essays that have been written by Yeats. The importance of this book is that it does not only make known the major contributions in poetry, drama, prose fiction and autobiography, but also criticisms which have been leveled at Yeats and these works. The criticisms herein are elaborate, taking a volume of 24 interpretative essays which have been written by different seasoned authors and poets such as Douglas Archibald, Lucy McDiarmid, Thomas Parkinson and Daniel Albright, among others.

Works Cited

Yeats, B. William. A Vision. New York: Macmillan Press, 1956.

Yeats, B. William. The Autobiography of William Butler Yeats. New York: Collier Books.

Yeats, B. William. The Collected Poems of WB Yeats. New York: Macmillan, 1996.