A pillar of the irish literary establishment, he helped to found the abbey theatre, and in his later years served two terms as a senator of the irish free state. Yeats s father, john butler yeats, was a barrister who eventually became a portrait painter. Explications and contexts er exoff egesis and interpretation of this notoriously knotty and peculiar work, as well as examining several of the contexts implicated in a vision. Benedict kiely and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. Margaret mills harper, a coeditor of yeat s vision papers volumes 3 and 4, is. This was the culmination of an alchemical process of soul work.
Yeats explains how he obtained a vision as follows. Yeats s most popular book is the collected poems of w. The automatic script contains repeated though often unclear instructions to meditate, for example. It is intended primarily for students of this work, and also for those who are interested in the intellectual and symbolic background to his later poetry and prose. Yeatss a vision gives an esoteric and occult view of the nature of reality and is the product of years of collaboration between the poet, w. Established in 1969, peter harrington is one of the leading rare book firms in the world. Yeats volume xiv kindle edition published may 19th 2015 by scribner kindle edition, 560 pages. A vision is allencompassing in its stated aims and scope, covering the nature of reality, the spiritual constitution of the human being, human life and afterlife, and the great trends and cycles of. Liverpool university press is the uks third oldest university press, with a distinguished history of publishing exceptional research since 1899 w. Yeats 18651939, specifically to the strange, esoteric system which he and his wife, george, created, and which he expounded in a vision. William butler yeats june 1865 28 january 1939 was an irish poet and one of the foremost figures of 20thcentury literature. Works sometimes appear twice if parts of new editions or significantly revised. Though not focused specifically on a vision like the previous volume, this book has much to offer those interested in yeats s thought more broadly.
The tower was yeats s first major collection as nobel laureate after receiving the nobel prize in 1923. In this poem, yeats supersedes christianity by using it as standin for all order, ethics, and tradition. This page presents an overview of willam butler yeats and a vision, and is especially intended to give background for those who may not know much about either the poet or a vision itself. This is a list of all works by irish poet and dramatist w.
The original 1925 version of a vision, poetic, unpolished, masked in fiction, and close to the excitement of the automatic writing that the yeatses believed to be its supernatural origin, is presented here in a scholarly edition. It begins by examining ego dominus tuus, a pivotal poem written in a crucial period for yeats, and one in which he sharpens his response to romantic culture by setting that response in dialogue with his evaluation of dante. The poem uses christian imagery regarding the apocalypse and second coming to allegorically describe the atmosphere of postwar europe. Yeats theory of reincarnation as described in a vision represents a novel view of the subject. Explications and contexts is the first volume of essays dedicated to a vision and the associated system developed by william butler yeats and his wife, george yeats. Paul is associate professor of english at clemson university. One of the strangest works of literary modernism, a vision is yeatss greatest occult work. It is important to note that christs return to earth after the end times is a second coming the first, of course. William butler yeats 18651939, winner of the 1923 nobel prize in literature and a foremost figure in 20thcentury literature. Those who are already familiar with yeats, but are less clear on the contents of a vision, should skip to the section on a vision. Her vision in the wood poem by william butler yeats. Yeats, and fairy and folk tales of the irish peasantry, and more on.
A vision is part of a fourteenvolume series under the general editorship of eminent yeats scholar george bornstein and formerly the late richard j. A vision by yeats, first edition, signed abebooks passion for books. It is a proud member of the antiquarian booksellers association along with ilab, the pbfa and lapada and from shops in mayfair and chelsea, london, sells rare books, prints and ephemera to. This page will be devoted to yeats remarkable book a vision, and i will be posting regular excerpts and discussions of the complex metaphysics and symbolism contained in this work. Yeats is one of the most important writers in english of the twentieth century, and the system of a vision is generally recognized as fundamental to the power and achievement of his later poetry. It is argued that yeats s exaltation of dante for being able to attain unity of being cannot. He received the nobel prize for literature in 1923. The poems title is borrowed from the book of revelations. Yeats warning of the islamic antichrist the imaginative. Feel free to like this page or share anything in it if you find it of interest. Yeats s a vision, the esoteric system that he and his wife, george, created around the spiral gyre and phases of the moon, underlying the achievement of his later work i dare say i delude myself in thinking this book my book of books.
One of the strangest works of literary modernism, a vision is yeatss. William butler yeats is widely considered to be one of the greatest poets of the 20th century. The second coming is a poem written by irish poet w. He was a driving force behind the irish literary revival along with lady gregory, edward martyn and. Top american libraries canadian libraries universal library community texts project gutenberg biodiversity heritage library childrens library. There are also some variations between the two versions of a vision, but the terms are given here in the list in their later or otherwise most usual form. An explanation of life founded upon the writings of giraldus and upon certain doctrines attributed to kusta ben luka, privately published in 1925, is a book length study of various philosophical, historical, astrological, and poetic topics by the irish poet william butler yeats. She is the author of poetry in the museums of modernism. This chapter on yeats explores the work of his midtolate career. An explanation of life founded upon the writings of giraldus and upon certain doctrines attributed to kusta ben luka and privately published in 1925, a vision is a book length study of various philosophical, historical, astrological, and poetic topics by the irish poet william butler yeats. However, the collection as a whole is also an eff ort of advocacy that seeks to demonstrate and champion a vision s. Most of the definitions below give links to the fuller considerations elsewhere.
On the afternoon of october 24th, 1917, four days after my marriage, my wife surprised me by attempting automatic writing. Yeats, and his wife, george, in automatic writing, followed by years of synthesis and research to work it into book form. But, sometimes it is appropriately in the distance pretension to get the book, even in further country or city. William butler yeats, irish poet, dramatist, and prose writer, one of the greatest englishlanguage poets of the 20th century. A vision by yeats, william butler used books and rare. Yeats in 1919, first printed in the dial in november 1920, and afterwards included in his 1921 collection of verses michael robartes and the dancer. Yeats, pound, moore, stein and of numerous articles relating to modernist studies. One of the most remarkable channeled documents of the past century is nobel prizewinning poet william butler yeats a vision. Others took pains to assure their readers that yeats was known. It is considered to be one of the poets most influential volumes and was well received by the public. Yeats has 754 books on goodreads with 187796 ratings. William butler yeats irish author and poet britannica. His prophetic foresight is even more remarkable in that he sees the sphinxlike beast rising from the deserts of the east.
Yeats frequently mentions the meditations that he associates with the symbols a vision. Posthumous editions are also included if they are the first publication of a new or significantly revised work. An explanation of life founded upon the writings of giraldus and upon certain doctrines attributed to kusta ben luka. He belonged to the protestant, angloirish minority that had controlled the economic, political, social, and cultural life of ireland since at least the end of the 17th century. Key to yeats as alchemical poet and magician sarah fuhro conflicts and oppositions in yeats life and chart were healed and regarded in a new light through his experience with the channeled material he received and recorded in a vision. Dry timber under that rich foliageat winedark midnight in the sacred woodtoo old for a mans love i stood in rage. The music podcast from two best buds think millennial artist spotlight hosted by brandon. Yeats dark vision captures the mood of our age when all seems to be disintegrating into chaos. Yeats chose to italicise many, though not all, of the specialised terms that he coined. Yeats obsessively revised the book, and the revised 1937 version is much more widely available than its predecessor.
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