The music podcast from two best buds think millennial artist spotlight hosted by brandon. Others took pains to assure their readers that yeats was known. His prophetic foresight is even more remarkable in that he sees the sphinxlike beast rising from the deserts of the east. This is a list of all works by irish poet and dramatist w. Yeats s poetry develops significantly during his life, with a period of the most rapid change during the years from 1910 to 1920. Paul is associate professor of english at clemson university.
Yeats obsessively revised the book, and the revised 1937 version is much more widely available than its predecessor. Yeats s a vision, the esoteric system that he and his wife, george, created around the spiral gyre and phases of the moon, underlying the achievement of his later work i dare say i delude myself in thinking this book my book of books. Books on the topic of this essay may be found in the imaginative conservative bookstore. Yeatss a vision gives an esoteric and occult view of the nature of reality and is the product of years of collaboration between the poet, w. It is considered to be one of the poets most influential volumes and was well received by the public. It is argued that yeats s exaltation of dante for being able to attain unity of being cannot. William butler yeats 18651939, winner of the 1923 nobel prize in literature and a foremost figure in 20thcentury literature. This page presents an overview of willam butler yeats and a vision, and is especially intended to give background for those who may not know much about either the poet or a vision itself. Yeats, and his wife, george, in automatic writing, followed by years of synthesis and research to work it into book form.
Yeats, pound, moore, stein and of numerous articles relating to modernist studies. William butler yeats is widely considered to be one of the greatest poets of the 20th century. Yeats frequently mentions the meditations that he associates with the symbols a vision. Margaret mills harper, a coeditor of yeat s vision papers volumes 3 and 4, is. He received the nobel prize for literature in 1923. There are also some variations between the two versions of a vision, but the terms are given here in the list in their later or otherwise most usual form. This page will be devoted to yeats remarkable book a vision, and i will be posting regular excerpts and discussions of the complex metaphysics and symbolism contained in this work. Yeats s most popular book is the collected poems of w.
An explanation of life founded upon the writings of giraldus and upon certain doctrines attributed to kusta ben luka, privately published in 1925, is a book length study of various philosophical, historical, astrological, and poetic topics by the irish poet william butler yeats. The second coming is a poem written by irish poet w. Feel free to like this page or share anything in it if you find it of interest. It is intended primarily for students of this work, and also for those who are interested in the intellectual and symbolic background to his later poetry and prose. One of the strangest works of literary modernism, a vision is yeatss greatest occult work. He belonged to the protestant, angloirish minority that had controlled the economic, political, social, and cultural life of ireland since at least the end of the 17th century. Yeats is one of the most important writers in english of the twentieth century, and the system of a vision is generally recognized as fundamental to the power and achievement of his later poetry. The poem uses christian imagery regarding the apocalypse and second coming to allegorically describe the atmosphere of postwar europe.
Yeatss mask a vision and yeatss late masks open book. A vision by yeats, first edition, signed abebooks passion for books. Dry timber under that rich foliageat winedark midnight in the sacred woodtoo old for a mans love i stood in rage. This was the culmination of an alchemical process of soul work. Yeats chose to italicise many, though not all, of the specialised terms that he coined. Yeats dark vision captures the mood of our age when all seems to be disintegrating into chaos.
An explanation of life founded upon the writings of giraldus and upon certain doctrines attributed to kusta ben luka and privately published in 1925, a vision is a book length study of various philosophical, historical, astrological, and poetic topics by the irish poet william butler yeats. It is a proud member of the antiquarian booksellers association along with ilab, the pbfa and lapada and from shops in mayfair and chelsea, london, sells rare books, prints and ephemera to. On the afternoon of october 24th, 1917, four days after my marriage, my wife surprised me by attempting automatic writing. Established in 1969, peter harrington is one of the leading rare book firms in the world. Those who are already familiar with yeats, but are less clear on the contents of a vision, should skip to the section on a vision. One of the most remarkable channeled documents of the past century is nobel prizewinning poet william butler yeats a vision. Liverpool university press is the uks third oldest university press, with a distinguished history of publishing exceptional research since 1899 w. Yeats s father, john butler yeats, was a barrister who eventually became a portrait painter. But, sometimes it is appropriately in the distance pretension to get the book, even in further country or city. Her vision in the wood poem by william butler yeats. A vision by yeats, william butler used books and rare. A vision is allencompassing in its stated aims and scope, covering the nature of reality, the spiritual constitution of the human being, human life and afterlife, and the great trends and cycles of.
Yeats volume xiv kindle edition published may 19th 2015 by scribner kindle edition, 560 pages. Yeats in 1919, first printed in the dial in november 1920, and afterwards included in his 1921 collection of verses michael robartes and the dancer. Yeats 18651939, specifically to the strange, esoteric system which he and his wife, george, created, and which he expounded in a vision. Yeats theory of reincarnation as described in a vision represents a novel view of the subject. Yeats has 754 books on goodreads with 187796 ratings. The poems title is borrowed from the book of revelations. Explications and contexts is the first volume of essays dedicated to a vision and the associated system developed by william butler yeats and his wife, george yeats.
A vision is part of a fourteenvolume series under the general editorship of eminent yeats scholar george bornstein and formerly the late richard j. Most of the definitions below give links to the fuller considerations elsewhere. Explications and contexts er exoff egesis and interpretation of this notoriously knotty and peculiar work, as well as examining several of the contexts implicated in a vision. The automatic script contains repeated though often unclear instructions to meditate, for example. The original 1925 version of a vision, poetic, unpolished, masked in fiction, and close to the excitement of the automatic writing that the yeatses believed to be its supernatural origin, is presented here in a scholarly edition. Benedict kiely and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. Yeats, and fairy and folk tales of the irish peasantry, and more on.
An explanation of life founded upon the writings of giraldus and upon certain doctrines attributed to kusta ben luka. Works sometimes appear twice if parts of new editions or significantly revised. This chapter on yeats explores the work of his midtolate career. In this poem, yeats supersedes christianity by using it as standin for all order, ethics, and tradition. However, the collection as a whole is also an eff ort of advocacy that seeks to demonstrate and champion a vision s. Top american libraries canadian libraries universal library community texts project gutenberg biodiversity heritage library childrens library. William butler yeats irish author and poet britannica.
Though not focused specifically on a vision like the previous volume, this book has much to offer those interested in yeats s thought more broadly. She is the author of poetry in the museums of modernism. William butler yeats june 1865 28 january 1939 was an irish poet and one of the foremost figures of 20thcentury literature. It begins by examining ego dominus tuus, a pivotal poem written in a crucial period for yeats, and one in which he sharpens his response to romantic culture by setting that response in dialogue with his evaluation of dante. Key to yeats as alchemical poet and magician sarah fuhro conflicts and oppositions in yeats life and chart were healed and regarded in a new light through his experience with the channeled material he received and recorded in a vision. Yeats warning of the islamic antichrist the imaginative. It is important to note that christs return to earth after the end times is a second coming the first, of course. Posthumous editions are also included if they are the first publication of a new or significantly revised work. A pillar of the irish literary establishment, he helped to found the abbey theatre, and in his later years served two terms as a senator of the irish free state. This web site is dedicated to the work of the irish poet w.
One of the strangest works of literary modernism, a vision is yeatss. He was a driving force behind the irish literary revival along with lady gregory, edward martyn and. Yeats explains how he obtained a vision as follows. William butler yeats, irish poet, dramatist, and prose writer, one of the greatest englishlanguage poets of the 20th century.