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William Butler Yeats

ウィリアム・バトラー・イェイツ

Uiriamu Batorā Ieitsu

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1865-06-13 （Sandymount, County Dublin, Ireland）
Died
1939-01-28 （Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France） age 73
Nationality
Irish
Languages
English
Religion
Protestant
Residence History
Sandymount (County Dublin) → Sligo (Pollexfen family home) → London (Bedford Park, Primrose Hill) → Dublin (Thomas Street, Harold's Cross, Howth) → Roquebrune-Cap-Martin (France)

Career

Occupations
Poet, Dramatist, Literary critic, Editor, Politician
Active Years
1885-1939
Affiliations
Abbey Theatre, Irish National Theatre Society, Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, Seanad Éireann (Irish Free State Senate)
Memberships
Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn (member; later Stella Matutina), The Ghost Club (paranormal research group), Irish Republican Brotherhood (involvement in youth)
Influenced By
John Keats, William Wordsworth, William Blake, Edmund Spenser, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Oscar Wilde, Emanuel Swedenborg (influence on mystical thought), Mohini Chatterjee (theosophical influence)
Influenced
Ezra Pound, W. H. Auden, Seamus Heaney, Many 20th-century English-language poets

Education

Godolphin School (Godolphin and Latymer School)
Period: 1877–1881
Year of Graduation: 1881
Country: United Kingdom
Early secondary education; not distinguished academically except in some humanities subjects
Metropolitan School of Art (now National College of Art and Design)
Art
Period: 1884–1886
Year of Graduation: 1886
Country: Ireland
Studied art while developing early poetic interests
Erasmus Smith High School (The High School, Dublin)
Period: 1881–1884
Country: Ireland
Secondary education in Dublin

Awards

Nobel Prize in Literature
1923
Work: for his always inspired poetry (his poetic work as a whole)
Organization: Swedish Academy
Result: Winner

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

The Wanderings of Oisin

1889 Narrative poem / Long poem 120 pages

A long narrative poem drawing on the Fenian Cycle of Irish mythology; contrasts contemplative life with active life and uses mythic imagery.

Irish mythologyContemplation vs. actionNature and the supernatural
Translations
  • Multiple editions and translations into various languages

The Tower

1928 Poetry collection 96 pages

A major late collection featuring a sparser, more powerful diction; includes meditations on aging, memory, and personal themes.

AgingMemorySelf and history

The Wild Swans at Coole

1919 Poetry collection 64 pages

Collection drawing on observations at Coole Park; uses natural imagery to meditate on loss and the passage of time.

NatureLossPassage of time

The Wind Among the Reeds

1899 Poetry collection 80 pages

An important early collection with symbolic, lyrical poems drawing on Irish myth and mysticism.

MythMysticismLyrical voice

A Vision

1925 Prose / Esoteric philosophy 240 pages

A systematic exposition of the esoteric system developed by Yeats and his wife through automatic writing; influential on his later poetry.

MysticismCyclical theories of historyDuality of self/soul

Bibliography

  • Mosada (1886)
  • The Wanderings of Oisin and Other Poems (1889)
  • The Secret Rose (1897)
  • The Wind Among the Reeds (1899)
  • Responsibilities (1914)
  • The Wild Swans at Coole (1919)
  • The Tower (1928)
  • A Vision (1925)
  • The Winding Stair (1933)
  • Last Poems and Plays (1940, posthumous)

Adaptations

  • Musical settings of poems such as "The Stolen Child" (composer Marcus Paus, 2009)
  • Stage productions: numerous dramatisations and performances at the Abbey Theatre

Translations by Author

  • The Ten Principal Upanishads (co-translated with Shri Purohit Swami, 1938)

Translations of Works

  • Yeats's poetry collections have been translated into many languages, including Japanese

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Symbolist imageryLyrical voice with mastery of traditional formsLater work shows sparer, more forceful diction
Recurring Motifs
Irish myth and folkloreCyclical theories of historyAging, death, memoryInterplay of love, politics, and national identity

Health

  • Dyslexia (suspected)
    幼少期から生涯
    Affected some aspects of schooling but did not prevent literary production
  • Tone-deafness (reported)
    生涯
    Reported limitations in musical perception
  • Steinach operation (vaso-epididymal procedure) and subsequent rejuvenation
    1934（手術）以降数年
    Yeats reported renewed creative energy after the operation, affecting late poetry

Legacy

A leading figure of 20th-century English-language poetry and central to the Irish Literary Revival; his Nobel Prize cemented international reputation and he left wide-ranging influence in poetry, drama, and thought.

Museums

  • W. B. Yeats Memorial Garden Dublin, near St Stephen's Green
  • Yeats Memorial Building Sligo

Academic Societies

  • Yeats study groups
  • Societies for Irish literary studies

Archives

  • Trinity College Dublin (Yeats Collection)
  • Collections at the Harry Ransom Center and other research libraries

In Popular Culture

  • Musical settings and choral works based on his poems (e.g., Marcus Paus)
  • Statues and memorials in Dublin and Sligo

Quotes

  • “For his always inspired poetry, which in a highly artistic form gives expression to the spirit of a whole nation.”
    Source: Nobel Prize citation (1923) (1923)
  • “Cast a cold eye / On life, on death. / Horseman, pass by!”
    Source: From the poem "Under Ben Bulben" (epitaph) (1939)

Trivia

  • Awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1923.
  • Central figure in the Irish Literary Revival and involved in founding the Abbey Theatre.
  • Underwent a Steinach operation in 1934, which he described as producing a 'second puberty'.
  • Died in France in 1939; remains repatriated to Ireland in 1948.