ENGL 310: Modern Poetry

Lecture 6 - William Butler Yeats (cont.) << previous session | next session >>

Overview:

Yeats's late poetry is discussed and interpreted. The poet's interest in human knowledge and its relationship to the body, particularly the aging body, is traced from "Leda and the Swan" to "Sailing to Byzantium," "In Memory of Eva Gore-Booth and Con Markievicz," "Two Songs from a Play," and "Vacillation." Yeats's late interest in the experiences of joy, madness, and "gaiety" is examined in "Crazy Jane Talks with the Bishop." Yeats's de-mystifying attitude toward art in "The Circus Animals' Destruction" is contrasted with his celebration of art in "Lapis Lazuli."

Reading assignment:

William Butler Yeats: "Sailing to Byzantium," "Byzantium," "Vacillation," "Lapis Lazuli," "Meru," "Crazy Jane Talks with the Bishop," "An Acre of Grass," "The Spur," "Under Ben Bulben," "The Gyres," "Long-Legged Fly," "Man and the Echo," "The Circus Animals' Desertion," "Politics"; Norton: A General Introduction to My Work (pp. 883-86)

Class lecture:

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Resources:

Section Activity: W.B. Yeats [text]

Credits:

W.B. Yeats, "In Memory of Eva Gore-Booth and Con Markiewicz," 1929 and "Crazy Jane Talks with the Bishop," 1933. Used by permission of A P Watts Ltd on behalf of GrĂ¡inne Yeats.

This material is not licensed under a Creative Commons license. Users must seek permission to use such third-party materials directly from the publisher or estate, as appropriate.