The Life and Works of William Butler Yeats

by W.B. Yeats, Perry Keenlyside (Compilation), Jim Norton (Narrator)

Examines the life and work of the great Irish poet, who utilized Irish mythology in his poems to pay homage to the culture of his native land. Read by Jim Norton, et al.

Genres: Poetry, Irish Literature, Biography, Ireland, Classics

35 pages, Audio CD

First published April 1, 2002

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

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

I listened to this in Audible. Basically, it was a biography of Yeats interspersed with his poetry. Now I have read his poetry, not all of it but a lot of it. I recognised more than I expected. I have always enjoyed his poetry. I chose to listen to this because sometimes when I struggle to sleep, it helps to listen to something calming and this was calming. I did learn some things although, again, I knew more than I thought I did. But it was lovely to listen to the poetry read aloud, almost like listening to my favourite music. If you enjoy poetry, this is a lovely edition.

[Dennis · Rating 4 out of 5]

The life of William Butler Yeats is a fascinating one - poet, playwright, essayist, politician, occultist, astrologer,lover, husband and father. His life extended to a vary full, sometimes frantic 73 years and left us with what I believe to be one of the finest collections of poetry.

[Jack Law · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an audiobook. I have to give this four stars for the (often five star) poetry though I wasn't a huge fan of some of the readings. It was nice to get some insights into the biography behind the poetry (I've only read Ellman's superb but not biographical 'The Man and the Masks'.

The obvious masterpieces include: The Wild Swans at Coole, Easter 1916, An Irish Airman Foresees His Death, The Second Coming, Leda and the Swan, Sailing To Byzantium, Byzantium.

Some stands outs that I'd not appreciated before: Adam's Curse ("And in the trembling blue-green of the sky / A moon, worn as if it had been a shell / Washed by time’s waters as they rose and fell / About the stars and broke in days and years."), Broken Dreams ("Your small hands were not beautiful, / And I am afraid that you will run / And paddle to the wrist / In that mysterious, always brimming lake/ Where those that have obeyed the holy law/ Paddle and are perfect; leave unchanged/ The hands that I have kissed / For old sake’s sake."), Mohini Chatterjee ("That such cannonade/ May thunder time away, / Birth-hour and death-hour meet, /Or, as great sages say,/ Men dance on deathless feet.'"), The Man and the Echo ("What do we know but that we face / One another in this place? /
But hush, for I have lost the theme, / Its joy or night-seem but a dream; /Up there some hawk or owl has struck, /Dropping out of sky or rock, / A stricken rabbit is crying out, /And its cry distracts my thought.")

"Why should not old men be mad?
Some have known a likely lad
That had a sound fly-fisher's wrist
Turn to a drunken journalist;
A girl that knew all Dante once
Live to bear children to a dunce;
A Helen of social welfare dream,
Climb on a wagonette to scream.
Some think it a matter of course that chance
Should starve good men and bad advance,
That if their neighbours figured plain,
As though upon a lighted screen,
No single story would they find
Of an unbroken happy mind,
A finish worthy of the start.
Young men know nothing of this sort,
Observant old men know it well;
And when they know what old books tell
And that no better can be had,
Know why an old man should be mad."

[Donna Mork · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book summarized the interesting life of William Butler Yeats who was everything from a poet to a politician. It just goes to show, anyone from any walk of life can have the gift of poetry and share it with the world.

[Karem Diab · Rating 5 out of 5]

Irish poet and playwright, who believed in ghosts, fairies and magic, is William Butler Ybbets, who was born on June 13, 1865 in the midst of a large family, and his father was a lawyer and painter who loved to read, where he read to his children poetry and stories from the works of Joser, Shakespeare, Sir Walter Scott, and many others.To deepen him in this hidden world and his approach to the spiritual and supernatural worlds and the worlds of the hidden, he founded at the age of 20 the 'Dublin Society of Magic Sciences', where a group of students wanted to study Indian philosophy and spirituality, and this association later turned into the name of the Dublin Society to share wisdom, and Bates attended the first spiritual scenes of this association, and he also joined the 'Golden Dawn System', a secret society that developed the teaching of magic and its practical experiences.
Bates was also a playwright, as he founded the Irish literary theater. In 1889, with the aim of presenting plays with Irish themes, Yeats wrote for this theater the play of Countess Kathleen and it was a national play.

[Maura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although I'm not a poetry buff I thoroughly enjoyed this audiobook. It intertwines W.B. Yeats' life, letters and poetry wonderfully. The information provided about his life, friendships and loves provides a beautiful context within which to experience his poetry. I particularly liked his letters to Lady Gregory, within which he shared so many of his inner thoughts.

Although the poems were beautifully performed I would have benefitted from having had a print copy of his poems to hand to pause the audiobook and to read and re-read the poems to really appreicate them.

I would highly recommend this concise but thoughtfully performed audiobook for anyone interested in learning more about this cultural icon of ours.

[Rob Hermanowski · Rating 4 out of 5]

This audiobook is available through Audible, and features a relatively short biography of the great Irish poet Yeats, as well as selection of his poems, nicely narrated by multiple readers. I wanted to learn more about Yeats, who spent much time in both Dublin and Sligo, since a family trip to Ireland was taking us to both places. The biographical parts are well done - striking a nice balance between being succinct and still interesting and informative. Yeats' beautiful poems speak for themselves. This audiobook is only 2 1/2 hours long, and it certainly whets the appetite for more of Yeats' work.

[Chloe]

Honestly, the only reason I read (well, listened to) this is because I found myself between audiobooks this morning and wasn’t sure what I was in the mood for and had no time to figure that out. This was a short audiobook, so it suited my purpose, but I didn’t really care for or feel connected to the content.

[Alvin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice collection of Yeat's works interspersed with a narrative of his life. The narrative allows the poems to be placed into some context.

The readers were excellent.

The challenge for me was that as I was listening, I needed to see the poem's words on the page. Yeats is complicated enough that I couldn't always follow the poem's direction and meaning.

[Lesley Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have long enjoyed the poetry of W B Yeats for itself but listening to this biographical account of his life, interspersed with readings, on Audible has put his poetry into perspective. Whenever I return to reading his works I now feel that I shall have a much deeper appreciation of it.

[Jeffrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like them, but I was not blown away, I am also not that much of a poet appreciating person, probably like rhymes (limriks?! haha) better than real erudite poetry. The Celtic Twilight, The Wanderings of Aengus

[Nagarajan Venkatraman · Rating 5 out of 5]

The repertoire of WB Yeat's poems is simply mind-boggling. Each a gem.