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William Butler Yeats was an Irish poet, dramatist, writer and literary critic who was one of the foremost figures of 20th-century literature. He was a driving force behind the Irish Literary Revival and, along with John Millington Synge and Lady Gregory, founded the Abbey Theatre, serving as its chief during its early years. He was awarded the 1923 Nobel Prize in Literature and later served two te…
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politics · Irish poet and playwright (1865–1939) · poet · playwright · writer · politician · mystic · astrologer · also William Butler Yeats, W. B. Yeats, W.B. Yeats, WBY, William Yeats, Yeats
Born 13 June 1865 · Died 28 January 1939 · Q40213
49 published statements · 0 followers
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We hope to find in Ireland an uncorrupted & imaginative audience trained to listen by its passion for oratory ... & that freedom to experiment which is not found in the theatres of England, & without which no new movement in art or literature can succeed.
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“s Royal Palace and the Ulster Bank. Across the river is the Yeats Memorial Building, which houses the Sligo Yeats Society. Standing Figure: Knife Edge by Henry Moore is displayed in the W. B. Yeats Memorial Garden at St Stephen”
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“We hope to find in Ireland an uncorrupted & imaginative audience trained to listen by its passion for oratory ... & that freedom to experiment which is not found in the theatres of England, & without which no new movement in art or literature can succeed.”
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“by marriage with a Pollexfen, we have given a tongue to the sea cliffs”
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sussexexpress.co.uk: A talk at Boxgrove on William Butler Yeats and His Social Circle
The Economic Times: Quote of the Day by William Butler Yeats: “Life is a journey up a spiral staircase; as we grow older we co
Mint: Quote of the day: William Butler Yeats on procrastination- ‘Do not wait to strike till the iron is hot…’
Publishers Weekly: Books by William Butler Yeats and Complete Book Reviews
The London County Council erected a plaque at his former residence on 23 Fitzroy Road, Primrose Hill, London
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The press—which was run by the poet's sisters—produced over 70 titles; 48 of them books by Yeats himself
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And the remains were moved to an ossuary and mixed with other remains
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Died 1939-01-28.
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“The official designs of the Government, especially its designs in connection with postage stamps and coinage, may be described, I think, as the silent ambassadors of national taste.”
“This country will not always be an uncomfortable place for a country gentleman to live in, and it is most important that we should keep in this country a certain leisured class. I am afraid that Labour disagrees with me in that. On this matter I am a crusted Tory. I am of the opinion of the ancient Jewish book which says "there is no wisdom without leisure.”
“Think like a wise man but communicate in the language of the people.”
“Tivesse eu os panejamentos bordados dos céus, (...)/ Estenderia esses mantos a teus pés./ Mas eu, sendo pobre, tenho apenas sonhos;/ E estendi meus sonhos a teus pés;/ Pisa com delicadeza, pois estás pisando/ em meus sonhos.”
“In dreams begins responsibility.”
“I think you can leave the arts, superior or inferior, to the conscience of mankind.”
Attended the Abbey for the final time to see the premiere of his play Purgatory
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“In Dreams Begin Responsibilities”
Undertook editorship of the Oxford Book of Modern Verse, 1892–1935
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Awarded Goethe Plaque of the City of Frankfurt (1934).
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Chaired a coinage committee charged with selecting designs for the first currency of the Irish Free State
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Awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature — for his always inspired poetry, which in a highly artistic form gives expression to the spirit of a whole nation.
Awarded Nobel Prize in Literature (1923).
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Career landmark: senator of Ireland (1922–1928).
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And re-appointed for a second term in 1925
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“but I believe that de Valera is dead right in his dispute with Great Britain. Whether or not Ireland can stand the racket is a ticklish question . . . We are a nation of believers. We produce anti-clerics, but atheists, never.”
“If I had not made magic my constant study I could not have written a single word of my Blake book, nor would The Countess Kathleen ever have come to exist. The mystical life is the centre of all that I do and all that I think and all that I write.”
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Finally consummated their relationship
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The court heard allegations that he had sexually assaulted Iseult, then eleven
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Gonne and MacBride agreed to end the marriage, although they were unable to agree on the child's welfare
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And inspired by the Arts and Crafts Movement, sought to "find work for Irish hands in the making of beautiful things
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To his dismay, married the Irish nationalist Major John MacBride
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Helped set up the Dun Emer Press to publish work by writers associated with the Revival
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Yeats, Lady Gregory, Edward Martyn and George Moore founded the Irish Literary Theatre to promote Irish plays
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And early on promoted younger poets such as Ezra Pound
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Yeats was introduced to Lady Gregory by their mutual friend Edward Martyn
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Yeats moved into number 5 Woburn Walk and resided there until 1919
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Yeats wrote: "If I had not made magic my constant study I could not have written a single word of my Blake book, nor would The Countess Kathleen ever have come to exist
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Yeats published John Sherman and "Dhoya", one a novella, the other a story
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Visited Gonne in Ireland and proposed marriage, but was rejected
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And took the magical motto Daemon est Deus inversus (abbreviated D
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Yeats and Ernest Rhys co-founded the Rhymers' Club, a group of London-based poets who met regularly in a Fleet Street tavern to recite their verse
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When he was 24, Yeats met Maud Gonne, a 23-year-old English heiress and ardent Irish nationalist
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And its slow-paced, modernist and lyrical poems display debts to Edmund Spenser, Percy Bysshe Shelley and the poets of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood
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The Dublin University Review published his first poems as well as an essay titled "The Poetry of Sir Samuel Ferguson"
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The family moved to Bedford Park taking a two-year lease at 8 Woodstock Road
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The family moved to England to aid their father, John, to further his career as an artist
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Born 1865-06-13.
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