William+Butler+Yeats

William Butler Yeats was born in Dublin. He was born into an Anglo-Irish landowning class. His father was a lawyer and a well known painter. He was educated in Dublin and London, but he spent his summers in Connaught, the west of Ireland. He returned to Dublin when he was fifteen to study painting and continue his education, where he then became a part of the Celtic Revival. The Celtic Revival was a movement against the cultural influences of English Rule in Ireland during the Victorian period, and it sought to promote the spirit of Ireland’s native heritage. He married a woman by the name of Georgie Hyde Lees, but his true love, Maude Gonne remained a powerful figure in his poetry. ( W. B. Yeats). His first volume came out in 1887, but his acting clearly outweighed his writing. He founded the Irish Theatre, with Lady Gregory, and it eventually became the Abbey Theatre. His plays, //The Countess Cathleen// (1892), //The Land of Heart’s Desire// (1894), //Cathleen ni Houlihan (1902)//, The King’s Threshold (1904), and Deirdre (1907), reflect his destination with mysticism and spiritualism, and are some of his most famous works. In 1910, his dramatic art took a sharp turn toward a highly poetical, static, and esoteric style. He was appointed to the Irish Senate in 1922 because of the way he deplored the hatred and bigotry of the Nationalist movement using his poetry as a full moving protest against it. Later on, he received the Nobel Prize for his dramatic poetry and lyrical achievement in 1923. His poetry, //The Winding Stiair and Other poems// ((1933)//, Last Poems and Plays// (1940), and //Michael Robartes and the Dancer// (1921), made him one of the most influential and outstanding poets of English writing in the twentieth-century.He passed away on January 28th, 1939 at the age of 73, and will be remembered as one of the greatest poets in any language of the century. ( William Butler Yeats - Biography).
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**William Butler Yeats' **//**writing style **// William Butler Yeats stands at the turning point between the Victorian period and Modernism, the conflicting currents of which affected his poetry. His mother's traditional Irish songs and stories and holiday visits kept the connection to Ireland strong. Yeats studied at the Dublin Metropolitan School of Art, his first collection of poetry being published in 1889. //The Wanderings of Oisin // and other poems already showed concerns that were to remain central to his writing - Ireland, spiritualism and love. His earliest books draw on the romantics and pre-Raphaelite ideals and mythologise a 'Celtic Twilight'. However, increased involvement with nationalist politics was to have a significant impact on his poetic style: his diction grew plainer, the syntax tighter and the verse structures, whilst retaining their traditional form, more muscular. To this middle period belongs his failed courtship of the beautiful nationalist. Yeats wrote prolifically for the stage but also continued with his poetry. Another important influence at this time was Modernism, Ezra Pound in particular, who introduced Yeats to the principles of Japanese Noh theater Yeats' was now entering his poetic maturity in which he developed a symbolism to mediate between the demands of art and life ( Macmillan ).

**// Poems and Analysis by William Butler Yeats //**  The intellect of man is forced to choose perfection of the life, or of the work, And if it take the second must refuse A heavenly mansion, raging in the dark. When all that story's finished, what's the news? In luck or out the toil has left its mark: That old perplexity an empty purse, Or the day's vanity, the night's remorse.
 * __THE CHOICE__:**

**ANALYSIS of The Choice by Annie Profeta**: This poem is called the Choice. Its the argument whether to choose to work a lot in your life, or take the life you have been given and make it well. You can either take the riches and marterial goods and live in the dark, the evil of life, or really focus on whats important. At the end of your life, is the story finished? Did he leave a mark on anyones life or make a differece? Or was his life empty without any signifigance? At the end of each day, did he choose to live his life to his greatest abililties, or did he regret not doing his best.

The old priest Peter Gilligan Was weary night and day; For half his flock were in their beds, Or under green sods lay.
 * __The Ballad of Father Gilligan:__**

Once, while he nodded on a chair, At the moth-hour of eve, Another poor man sent for him, And he began to grieve.

'I have no rest, nor joy, nor peace, For people die and die'; And after cried he, 'God forgive! My body spake, not I!'

He knelt, and leaning on the chair He prayed and fell asleep; And the moth-hour went from the fields, And stars began to peep.

They slowly into millions grew, And leaves shook in the wind; And God covered the world with shade, And whispered to mankind.

Upon the time of sparrow-chirp When the moths came once more. The old priest Peter Gilligan Stood upright on the floor.

'Mavrone, mavrone! the man has died While I slept on the chair'; He roused his horse out of its sleep, And rode with little care.

He rode now as he never rode, By rocky lane and fen; The sick man's wife opened the door: 'Father! you come again!'

'And is the poor man dead?' he cried. 'He died an hour ago.' The old priest Peter Gilligan In grief swayed to and fro.

'When you were gone, he turned and died As merry as a bird.' The old priest Peter Gilligan He knelt him at that word.

'He Who hath made the night of stars For souls who tire and bleed, Sent one of His great angels down To help me in my need.

'He Who is wrapped in purple robes, With planets in His care, Had pity on the least of things Asleep upon a chair.'

**ANALYSIS of The Ballad of Father Gilligan by Annie Stuart:** The Ballad of the Father Gilligan is a story about a man who in death is aided by an angel sent from heaven. He dies in peace because of his actions in life for he was a good man who loved the Lord. It is deeply spiritual and inspirational. It was written by Yeats to demonstrate hard times in Ireland, particularly during the Great Famine of 1844.[Bengsston] At this time, many passed away and those blessed with life continued to rely on their faith and on God. William Butler Yeats, a deeply emotional and religous man, "...practiced a version of angelic spiritualism and provided visionary and poetic inspiration."[Piras] He wrote this particular poem to not only inspire those going through hardship in his homeland but also for future generations. This particular poem is widely known and not only suggests perserverance in hard times but to continue to complete the work of The Almighty One because in your hour, he will remember you and aid you.

**__A Prayer for my Son__** Bid a strong ghost stand at the head That my Michael may sleep sound, Nor cry, nor turn in the bed Till his morning meal come round; And may departing twilight keep All dread afar till morning's back. That his mother may not lack Her fill of sleep.

Bid the ghost have sword in fist: Some there are, for I avow Such devilish things exist, Who have planned his murder, for they know Of some most haughty deed or thought That waits upon his future days, And would through hatred of the bays Bring that to nought.

Though You can fashion everything From nothing every day, and teach The morning stars to sing, You have lacked articulate speech To tell Your simplest want, and known, Wailing upon a woman's knee, All of that worst ignominy Of flesh and bone;

And when through all the town there ran The servants of Your enemy, A woman and a man, Unless the Holy Writings lie, Hurried through the smooth and rough And through the fertile and waste, protecting, till the danger past, With human love.

//**ANALYSIS of <span style="color: #18a0a0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-style: normal;">A Prayer for my Son <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-style: normal;">: by Danielle Misencik **// <span style="color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: left;">// This poem is about the narrator’s prayer for his son’s safety and security. The // prayer is both psalmic and secular and affirms the power and hope inherent in human love. By analogizing the Holy Family with his own, the narrator explores the relationship between spiritual and human realms; thus, his prayer is answered, because his trust in love has been strengthened. Lines 29-30 invoke Isaiah's prophecies about John the Baptist preparing the way for Christ by leveling mountains and raising valleys. The speaker is both serious and whimsical as he articulates his desire for a peaceful night, food, shelter, and security. Either the speaker's sincere anxiety prompts him to seek supernatural aid, or he simply values traditional comforts. As evening prayers anticipate the renewal that morning brings, //Yeats's// "Prayer" looks toward the coming day, a meal, and remission of dread. Overall, the poem is a very strong prayer that gets the message across (Liu). <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;">include component="comments" page="William Butler Yeats" limit="30" <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%; text-align: left;">

Bengsston, Gunnar. "The Ballad of Father Gilligan." //Poetry Connection//. 10 Jan. 2009. Web. 7 Apr. 2010. [].
 * Works Cited:** <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;">"W. B. Yeats -." //Poets.org - Poetry, Poems, Bios & More//. Academy of American Poets, 2010. Web. 30.Mar.2010. <http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/117>."William Butler Yeats - Biography." //Nobelprize.org//. Elsevier Publishing Company, 1969. Web. 30 Mar. 2010. [].

Piras, Andrea. //Encyclopedia of Religion//. 2nd ed. Vol. 1. Detriot: Cengage Learning, 2005. 343-50. //Gale Virtual Reference Library//. Web. 7 Apr. 2010. [Yeats].

Liu, Celestine W. "Yeats's A prayer for my son." //Explicator// 54.1 (1995): 26. //Academic Search Premier//. EBSCO. Web. 14 Apr. 2010. ||