Oscar Wilde and Rudyard Kipling. Henley was their mentor, an ally against the conventions of their parents. Yeats, contributing regularly to Henley's publications such asScots and the National Observer, recognized Henley's pragmatic stance on Irish independence as a struggle England was reluctant to resolve. Henley’s vitality waned after his daughter's death, a decline Yeats poignantly captured in his essay The Tragic Generation.

MacGregor Mathers

MacGregor Mathers, originally Liddell Mathers, was the charismatic leader of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. Under his tutelage, Yeats embarked on mystical studies that would profoundly influence his understanding of the subconscious. Members of the order, many of whom were Yeats’s creative contemporaries, engaged in esoteric practices that invoked visions through potent symbols, exploring realms beyond tangible memory.

William Morris

William Morris was a multifaceted Englishman—a poet, artist, and socialist whose creative prowess extended to crafting household items. His influence echoed through Yeats's Autobiographies, with Morris’s designs woven into its narrative. Yeats, often attending Socialist League debates at Morris's home, found himself dining with the man whose life, he confessed, he would have preferred to his own. Although Yeats did not admire Morris's poetry, he acknowledged the impact of Morris’s ideals on his own fleeting socialist convictions.

Jack Nettleship, an artist whom Yeats once recounted as "inventor of imaginative designs and now a painter of melodramatic lions," left a vivid impression on the poet. Though their meeting was orchestrated by Yeats's father, the young poet's admiration stemmed more from a childhood habit than from Nettleship's artistic prowess. Yeats amusingly noted Nettleship's penchant for cocoa, a beverage he consumed incessantly after having once battled alcoholism, finding comfort in keeping a drink perpetually at hand.

John O’Leary

John O’Leary stood as a staunch advocate and writer for the Irish nationalist cause. By the tender age of twenty, he had already carved his place in the Young Ireland Movement. His journey was marked by arrest, imprisonment, and eventual exile to France, before he returned to helm the Fenians, a revolutionary group formed in Ireland and the United States around the 1850s to wrest independence from England through force. O’Leary was also the heartbeat of the Young Ireland Society, an Irish nationalist literary circle where Yeats himself was a member.

Yeats fondly remembered O’Leary as "the handsomest man I had ever seen," holding immense respect and admiration for him. O’Leary's spirited debates and thoughtful discussions, alongside the books he generously lent, ignited Yeats's creative endeavors, inspiring "all that I have set my hand to since." Additionally, O’Leary played a crucial role in rallying "subscribers" for Yeats's inaugural poetry collection, The Wanderings of Oisin and Other Poems.

Elizabeth Middleton Pollexfen

Elizabeth Pollexfen, Yeats's grandmother and the wife of William Pollexfen, exuded warmth and generosity that starkly contrasted with her husband's austere nature. Engaged deeply in charitable activities, she skillfully captured the delicate flowers she nurtured in her cherished garden through her drawings.

George Pollexfen

George Pollexfen, one of William Pollexfen's sons, was Yeats's maternal uncle and "dear friend." The duo shared a fascination with the mystical, as George honed his craft as an astrologer and mystic. Yeats recalled his uncle as appearing older than his years, largely due to his somber demeanor. Yet, George's thirst for knowledge about mystical symbols and visions was unquenchable. Their shared passion led them to gather tales of supernatural encounters from their rural neighbors around Sligo.

Yeats cherished his stays with George in Sligo, where his uncle thoughtfully accommodated his penchant for solitude and the outdoors, arranging meals around his young nephew's unpredictable schedule.

William Pollexfen

William Pollexfen, Yeats's maternal grandfather, commanded both fear and esteem from his peers and the impressionable young Yeats. Though Pollexfen never mistreated him, his imposing presence was intimidating. A man of few words, he rarely spoke, even with his wife, about his grand military exploits from his youth. His towering figure, coupled with his wide-ranging travels and ownership of several ships, filled Yeats with awe. The poet noted with admiration that his grandfather "had the reputation of never ordering a man to do anything he would not do himself."

T. W. Rolleston

T. W. Rolleston, whom Yeats lauded as "the second Thomas Davis," was a pivotal member in the inception of the Rhymers’ Club around 1891, a gathering of literary minds sharing their poetic creations.

George "A. E." Russell

George Russell, known in artistic circles as "A. E.," crossed paths with Yeats at art school in Dublin. Yeats vividly remembered Russell as a student who painted not what lay before him, but what he envisioned in his mind’s eye. Russell's unique perspective and talents would eventually propel him to fame as both poet and mystic, becoming one of Yeats's closest confidants.

Yeats marveled at Russell’s adaptability, noting how he adeptly transitioned into a role within a "co-operative banking system" despite only a brief stint in accounting. Russell's diplomatic nature often saw him mediating disputes. However, Yeats was less enthusiastic about Russell's ventures into literary criticism.

John Synge

Yeats hailed John Synge as the "greatest dramatic genius of Ireland." Their first encounter in 1896 left Yeats unimpressed with the younger writer. However, Synge's eventual collaboration with Lady Gregory and Yeats at the Irish National Theatre Society and the Abbey Theatre cemented his legacy. His play The Playboy of the Western World sparked controversy in 1907 at the Abbey Theatre for its portrayal of Irish rural life and its use of Gaelic dialect.

Synge’s life was cut short by illness in 1909. In his essay The Death of Synge, Yeats reflected on the profound nature of their friendship.

J. F. Taylor

See John F. Taylor

John F. Taylor

John F. Taylor, a formidable lawyer and orator, spoke passionately on Irish literature and history to the Young Ireland Society and other circles. Though he and Yeats often found themselves at odds, particularly over Yeats’s supernatural beliefs, Taylor’s eloquence captivated the poet. Taylor was known for his advocacy of seemingly unwinnable legal cases and his famously short temper.

Oscar Wilde

Through W. E. Henley’s discussion group, Yeats was introduced to the charismatic Oscar Wilde, an Irish playwright and poet whose speeches seemed effortlessly pre-composed in his mind. Wilde occasionally graced the Rhymers’ Club with his presence in the 1890s.

He lauded Yeats’s debut poetry collection, The Wanderings of Oisin and Other Poems, and frequently invited the young poet to his home for dinner. During these gatherings, Wilde relished listening to Yeats recount lengthy Irish folk tales, flattering him with comparisons to Homer. When Wilde faced charges of indecency and the prospect of imprisonment, Yeats, along with many others, stood by the embattled wit.

John Butler Yeats

John Yeats, the father of Yeats, swapped his legal career for the captivating world of painting. Yet, his passion was not confined to the canvas alone; he reveled in the dramatic prose of theater and the lyrical flow of poetry. He profoundly impacted his son’s intellectual journey, ushering him into a vibrant circle of fellow artists and writers. This eclectic gathering played a pivotal role in shaping Yeats’s thoughts, engaging him in spirited debates on philosophy, art, and politics. Yeats noted that many of these discussions were swayed by the Pre-Raphaelite movement, a 19th-century aesthetic philosophy which often romanticized its subjects, while expressing skepticism towards industrial and technological progress. Despite their closeness, John Yeats never fully embraced his son's fascination with the mystical realm. Yeats himself observed that his exploration into the occult marked a turning point, gradually liberating him from his father’s formidable intellectual influence.

Susan Mary Pollexfen Yeats

Susan Yeats, the poet's mother, was cherished by her husband for her candidness and forthright expression of emotions. Yeats fondly recalled their return journey to Ireland from London, highlighting his mother’s yearning to reside near the soothing presence of the sea. “I have no doubt that we lived at the harbour for my mother's sake,” he reflected, vividly painting a picture of her sitting in the kitchen, absorbed in the tales spun by a servant, a fisherman's wife.

William Butler Yeats

William Butler Yeats, the illustrious Irish poet and dramatist behind Autobiographies, weaved a rich tapestry of art and literature from 1865 to 1939. As a child, Yeats was a restless spirit, resistant to the confines of the classroom, preferring instead the boundless learning offered by the natural world. Despite confessing to a lack of physical prowess in his autobiography, Yeats was captivated by the stories and fairy tales told by others, which he meticulously collected later in life, infusing their essence into his own poetic and narrative creations.

As he matured, Yeats’s fascination with the mystical and otherworldly deepened. He aligned himself with Madame Blavatsky’s Theosophical Society and the mysterious Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn led by MacGregor Mathers. His poetic oeuvre was richly informed by these esoteric studies, alongside his fervent exploration of Irish heritage and his staunch advocacy for Ireland's separation from England. In the 1920s, Yeats's dedication to his homeland saw him step into the political arena, ultimately serving as an Irish senator.

At the dawn of the 20th century, Yeats ventured into the world of theater, crafting and staging plays steeped in the traditional tapestries of Irish life and folklore. With the support of his patron, Lady Gregory, he co-founded the Abbey Theatre in Dublin. This era of creativity was crowned in 1923 when he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. In his autobiography, Yeats humorously recounted the moment they received the news—he and his wife, lacking a bottle of wine to toast the occasion, had to make do with sausages, underscoring the necessity of marking their triumph with what was at hand.