<![CDATA[The Collected Poems of W.B. Yeats]]>

false <![CDATA[The Collected Poems of W.B. Yeats]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170398695m/53022.jpg 53022 12 William Butler Yeats, whom many consider this century's greatest poet, began as a bard of the Celtic Twilight, reviving legends and Rosicrucian symbols. By the early 1900s, however, he was moving away from plush romanticism, his verse morphing from the incantatory rhythms of "I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree" into lyrics "as cold and passionate as the dawn." At every stage, however, Yeats plays a multiplicity of poetic roles. There is the romantic lover of "When You Are Old" and "A Poet to His Beloved" ("I bring you with reverent Hands / The books of my numberless dreams..."). And there are the far more bitter celebrations of Maud Gonne, who never accepted his love and engaged in too much politicking for his taste: Why should I blame her that she filled my days With misery, or that she would of late Have taught to ignorant men most violent ways, Or hurled the little streets upon the great, Had they but courage equal to desire? There is also the poet of conscience – and confrontation. His 1931 "Remorse for Intemperate Speech" ends: Out of Ireland have we come. Great hatred, little room, Maimed us at the start. I carried from my mother's womb A fanatic heart. Yeats was to explore several more sides of himself, and of Ireland, before his Last Poems of 1938–39. Many are difficult, some snobbish, others occult and spiritualist. As Brendan Kennelly writes, Yeats "produces both poppycock and sublimity in verse, sometimes closely together." On the other hand, many prophetic masterworks are poppycock-free – for example, "The Second Coming" Turning and turning in the widening gyre The falcon cannot hear the falconer; Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world... and such inquiries into inspiration as "Among School Children" ("O body swayed to music, O brightening glance, / How can we know the dancer from the dance?"). And at his best, Yeats extends the meaning of love poetry beyond the obviously romantic: love becomes a revolutionary emotion, attaching the poet to friends, history, and the passionate life of the mind. – Kerry Fried 629495 1989 The Collected Poems of W.B. Yeats total:1943|5:1055|4:617|3:229|2:36|1:6| 1943 8508 2528 86 5 1 false false Thu May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun May 25 18:55:13 -0700 2008 Sun Jun 08 15:18:07 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue Feb 03 11:14:26 -0800 2009 Thu Feb 05 00:02:23 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Tue Sep 08 15:18:44 -0700 2009 Tue Sep 08 15:26:27 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Fri May 08 05:43:03 -0700 2009 Fri May 08 05:43:03 -0700 2009 It is very hard to pick a favourite poem but if pressed on the subject I guess it...more...]]> 5 2 false false Tue Mar 04 13:13:49 -0800 2008 Thu Feb 21 13:11:07 -0800 2008 Thu Feb 21 13:36:27 -0800 2008
That's what my Yeats teacher told me anyways!]]> 5 0 false false Wed Aug 12 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Aug 12 09:09:21 -0700 2009 Wed Aug 12 09:14:01 -0700 2009 endless
He was sexist, egocentric, pessimistic and a genius. Wonderful things for a poet.

"That is no country for old men. The...more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue Oct 06 13:18:11 -0700 2009 Tue Oct 20 19:48:38 -0700 2009
like the rest of the modern poets, yeats has little hope for mankind-- which he views as largely self-interes...more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Oct 28 21:43:48 -0700 2009 Wed Oct 28 21:47:48 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue Dec 30 20:42:53 -0800 2008 Tue Dec 30 20:51:49 -0800 2008
Yeats' meditations on aging are by far my favorite - ...more...]]> 5 0 false false Thu Oct 11 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Mon Nov 09 02:07:48 -0800 2009 Mon Nov 16 05:11:12 -0800 2009
Perhaps only because they have Yeats to guide them through. He made being a grumpy old drunk obsessed with mythology and younger women cool way before Bukowski and Jack Nicholson. I'd love to say his words moved me deeply (and perhaps they did, at that) but ...more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri Jul 31 08:17:52 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 03 12:39:16 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Wed Aug 29 08:05:00 -0700 2007 Wed Aug 29 08:05:00 -0700 2007 more...]]> 5 0 false false Fri Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2006 Sun Sep 07 19:16:05 -0700 2008 Mon Sep 08 07:11:32 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Sep 26 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Sep 17 04:33:31 -0700 2009 Sat Sep 26 06:25:40 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Sun Apr 19 16:03:58 -0700 2009 Sun Apr 19 16:03:58 -0700 2009
HAD I the heavens' embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half-light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have onl...more...]]> 5 0 false false Thu May 07 06:29:24 -0700 2009 Thu Apr 09 08:28:39 -0700 2009 Thu May 07 06:29:24 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue Apr 21 01:38:01 -0700 2009 Tue Apr 21 01:46:35 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Sun Dec 14 22:38:06 -0800 2008 Sun Dec 14 22:38:51 -0800 2008 5 0 false false Mon Jun 15 07:11:39 -0700 2009 Sat Aug 08 11:53:39 -0700 2009
I was introduced to Yeats's poetry by the mo...more...]]> 5 0 false false Sat Jan 10 08:41:11 -0800 2009 Sat Jan 10 08:43:27 -0800 2009 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=53022