William Butler YeatsAwards:
Nobel Prize in Literature-1923. First Irish writer to be
awarded the Prize.Nobel Committee
in its citation stated that the prize was given for
"inspired poetry, which in a highly
artistic form gives expression to the spirit of a whole nation." Yeats
is generally considered one of the few writers who completed their
greatest works after being awarded the Nobel Prize;
Born: 13/06/1865 in Dublin, Ireland
Died: 28/01/1939
Citizen: Irish
Language: English
Yeats was the son of a well known
Irish painter and had inherited the literary inclination from his
father. His childhood was spent in Silo county and London where his
father was stationed. At the age of 15, Yeats came back to Dublin to
pursue further studies and also painting.
Yeats dabbled
in various forms of writing but soon discovered that poetry was his
cup of tea. He drew resources heavily from Irish folklore and
traditions to include in his poems. While after 1910, he was very much
influenced by Ezra Pound and use of imagery increased in his poems, he
was an ardent follower of verse form and followed the poetic rhythm.
Landmarks:* Yeats was one
of the founders of Abbey Theatre in Dublin. * Irish revolutionary Maud
Gonne had a powerful influence on Yeats and Yeats was also
romantically involved with her. * Yeats had a lifelong interest in
mysticism and occult which annoyed some of his contemporaries such as
W H Auden. * He wrote a 22 page preface to the First English edition
of Rabindranath Tagore's Gitanjali. Tagore got Nobel
Prize in 1913.* He founded Irish Literary Society.
Notable Poems:
The Wanderings of Vision(1889,poetry),
The Celtic Twilight(1893,essays),
On Baile's Strand
(1904,play) , At the
Hawk's Well(1916,play),The Wild
Swans at Coole(1917,poem),Raster(1916,poem),
The Tower(1928),
The Winding Stair(1929),
Last Poems and Plays(1940,posthumously)
Order WB Yeat's Books below
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