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Introduction

William Butler Yeats

It is impossible to imagine 20th-century Irish literature without William Butler Yeats. He was an instrumental part of the “Irish Literary Revival” that redefined Irish writing. He came to prominence during a tumultuous period in his country’s history, and the idea of an independent Irish identity was crucial to Yeats’s work as a poet. In addition to his extensive and varied volumes of poetry, Yeats also wrote for the theater. He helped form a theatrical collective that led to the founding of the legendary Abbey Theatre, whose mission was to refocus drama on the plays themselves. Throughout his long career, Yeats influenced countless generations of dramatists and poets, including American writer Ezra Pound.

Essential Facts

1. Early in his career, Yeats was heavily influenced by other poets such as William Blake and Percy Shelley. The latter’s Prometheus Unbound was among Yeats’s favorite works.
2. In his youth, Yeats and some other poets formed the Rhymer’s Club. The group was an open forum for reading new works, and they eventually published several volumes of poetry.
3. One of Yeats’s longest works is The Wanderings of Oisin, an epic poem based in Irish mythology that took two years to finish.
4. Yeats’s A Vision was a collaborative work created with his wife Georgie. The writings are a result of decoded messages channeled from the spirit world.
5. In 1923, Yeats was awarded the Nobel Prize for his poetry, helping draw international attention to the Irish literary boom.