Selected Poems and Three Plays of William Butler Yeats. Third Edition

by W.B. Yeats

A revised and expanded edition of the classic volume of Yeats' work, including the play The Death of Cuchulain.

Genres: Poetry, Drama, Irish Literature, Classics, Fiction, Ireland, Literature

Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 1987

About the author

William Butler Yeats was an Irish poet and dramatist, and one of the foremost figures of 20th century literature. A pillar of both the Irish and British literary establishments, in his later years Yeats served as an Irish Senator for two terms. He was a driving force behind the Irish Literary Revival, and along with Lady Gregory and Edward Martyn founded the Abbey Theatre, serving as its chief during its early years. In 1923 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature 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 was the first Irishman so honored. Yeats is generally considered one of the few writers who completed their greatest works after being awarded the Nobel Prize; such works include The Tower (1928) and The Winding Stair and Other Poems (1929).

Yeats was born and educated in Dublin but spent his childhood in County Sligo. He studied poetry in his youth, and from an early age was fascinated by both Irish legends and the occult. Those topics feature in the first phase of his work, which lasted roughly until the turn of the century. His earliest volume of verse was published in 1889, and those slow paced and lyrical poems display debts to Edmund Spenser and Percy Bysshe Shelley, as well as to the Pre-Raphaelite poets. From 1900, Yeats' poetry grew more physical and realistic. He largely renounced the transcendental beliefs of his youth, though he remained preoccupied with physical and spiritual masks, as well as with cyclical theories of life.
--from Wikipedia

Reviews

[Helena Sorensen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish I had a better knowledge of Irish history and folklore, because Yeats is always making obscure references that are mostly lost on me. Still, I love his style and his passion. His depth of feeling comes through even when I'm not clear about the historical references or the symbolic importance of certain elements.

[Ramzzi · Rating 5 out of 5]

“He is content with his savage heart.”

If not for Ephemera, I would be holding back and carry on to give a rating of four stars for W.B. Yeats. But the love poem is too powerful for me, that excuse my Filipino, I would exclaim: “I asked to be mindfucked—not heartfucked.” Never I had witnessed such imagery, like two voices as ghosts, illuminated by nature and the fading passion of hearts—and with an ending that holds my heart every time I read its last two words. And from ghosts of this beloved lake once more, they become blue fire of spirits who had fallen in love and fallen in eternity.

On the rest of this collection, Yeats both flowered his poetry into two: literal and mythical. There have been literal undertakings, truly he had lived as a poet drifting apart from the Romantic tradition and had been welcomed by modernism and realism. This is his very edge. Many paid homage to him as the last Romantic; and as one of the first Modernists, too. Simply, he had two eras to cross. The 19th and 20th century championed him as one of finest poets who wrote in English. Now into the blossoming of his literary art, he was definitely a myth on the loose. Or let’s be meta: myths within a myth. Yeats is a poet who immortalized many mythos: the Irish, the Celtic, the Scottish, the Greek and various literary references were there buried in his lines. Hence, those lines as soil, flowers and trees as poetic heritage blossomed, cradling the readers of the world on how to live in two worlds, and see how it's like to be a poet of two pasts.

[David Withun · Rating 4 out of 5]

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[Glen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very strong anthology that includes Yeats' best-known poems, includes many that are not so well-known, avoids some of his more embarrassing forays into the occult, and also includes a very good introductory essay and many helpful end notes. I know it is probably passe to say it, but I regard "The Second Coming" as one of the finest poems in the English language, and of course Yeats wrote many other memorable poems ("Under Ben Bulben", "The Lake Isle of Innisfree", "Sailing to Byzantium" all spring to mind) and plays as well, three of which are included here (the last, Purgatory, is deeply disturbing). I don't pretend to always understand or even like where Yeats takes me, but I rarely find him boring and he is frequently exhilarating. A scholarly edition of a treasure of world literature. If you are looking for a single volume of Yeats this anthology would be hard to surpass.

[christina · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is more me than Yeats. I read this to counter Infinite Jest, Essays by Montaigne, and The Archetypes and The Collective Unconscious, which made Yeats, his poetry, and the three dramatic works seem sing-songy and thoroughly on-the-nose -- a total snore.

Will revisit when I'm in a better frame of mind.

[Dayla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Decidedly unimpressed. BUT. . .

Thanks to Colin Small (another reviewer) who said that his Personal Favorites (i.e. favorite Yeats' poems) were: The Second Coming, The Phases of the Moon, The Three Hermits, The Magi, The Cold Heaven.

I will review those soon to see if they "take."

[Sarah Main · Rating 3 out of 5]

The ones I understood I enjoyed, and I think I will enjoy many others after reading them more deeply.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good stuff. Yeat's millennial/occult bent gets a little daffy in spots but that's the power behind his music so you live with it. For someone whose subject matter is at times so obscure his approach is incredibly simple and gracious to the reader. He's a little confounding but somehow always approachable. Very cultivated, beautiful, and if the world had ended in 1930 or something he would be god and this would be the bible. But it didn't. Overall, if you want to start reading poetry read this book.

[H]

Many times man lives and dies
Between his two eternities,
That of race and that of soul,
And ancient Ireland knew it all.
. . .
Know that when all words are said
And a man is fighting mad,
Something drops from eyes long blind,
He completes his partial mind,
For an instant stands at ease,
Laughs aloud, his heart at peace.
Even the wisest man grows tense
With some sort of violence
Before he can accomplish fate,
Know his work or choose his mate.

-"Under Ben Bulben," II & III

[Colin Small]

Some of Yeats is poetry (his middle years) is very topical and political, so if you don't know about, or care about Irish history, you may want to skip those. But poetry from all throughout his career is great and this volume has a great selection, and good notes too. Personal Favorites: The Second Coming, The Phases of the Moon, The Three Hermits, The Magi, The Cold Heaven.

[Mike Lemon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a nice anthology, with excerpts from all of Yeat's career. A perusal of each period allows even the casual reader a glimpse into his progression as a poet. It is breathtaking.