William Butler Yeats
William Butler Yeats (1865-1939) is the major figure of the Anglo-Irish revival in poetry and literature at the turn of the century. Though he wrote quite a number of plays, such as The Countess Cathleen (1892) or The Hour Glass and Others Plays (1903), it is through his poems that Yeats's reputation principally lies. These poems are among the greatest in the English language and were collected in such volumes as Crossways (1889).
When he was young he was influenced spiritualism and Oriental philosophy, Irish mythology and nationalistic literature. Although nominally a member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood and active in celebrating the centenary of the 1798 rising, Yeats increasingly concentrated hid efforts on literature. His major achievement lies in the powerful symbolism of his later poetry. He displays a real passion concerning languages and rhythms. He received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1923 and with Shaw and Russell he founded the Irish Academy of Lettres in 1932.
When he was young he was influenced spiritualism and Oriental philosophy, Irish mythology and nationalistic literature. Although nominally a member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood and active in celebrating the centenary of the 1798 rising, Yeats increasingly concentrated hid efforts on literature. His major achievement lies in the powerful symbolism of his later poetry. He displays a real passion concerning languages and rhythms. He received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1923 and with Shaw and Russell he founded the Irish Academy of Lettres in 1932.
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