W.B. Yeats and the Learning of Imagination

by Kathleen Raine, Brian Keeble (Editor)

At a time when Yeats studies are narrowing down the focus of interest to the minutiae of the poet's personal life, this book argues that by his 'learning of the Imagination' W.B. Yeats was not only a great poet but also a great imaginative mind. His work marks a cultural watershed in that where as English poetry up to and including Eliot drew upon European civilisation, Yeats additionally drew upon world Irish mythology, Arabic, Japanese, Indian wisdom and much besides. The extent and import of his learning cannot, as the author argues, be appreciated by a mentality that merely reflects current materialist values. The Irish poet stood within a tradition of spiritual and esoteric knowledge which has been largely ignored by his critics making many of their judgements inappropriate. Kathleen Raine's words in this book distill for us the essence of Yeat's imagination. We appreciate not only the beauty of the poems of this great craftsman of words but also his desire to inspire the deepening of soul knowledge.

128 pages, Paperback

First published November 23, 1999

About the author

Kathleen Jessie Raine CBE was an English poet, critic and scholar, writing in particular on William Blake, W.B. Yeats and Thomas Taylor. Known for her interest in various forms of spirituality, most prominently Platonism and Neoplatonism, she was a founding member of the Temenos Academy.