The Collected Poems of W.B. Yeats
by William Butler Yeats
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Book Summary Information
Author: William Butler YeatsEditor: Richard J. Finneran
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1996-09-09
ISBN: 0684807319
Number of pages: 576
Publisher: Scribner
Accessories:
- Mythologies
- The Collected Works of W.B. Yeats Volume XIII: A Vision: The Original 1925 Version
- Selected Poems And Four Plays of William Butler Yeats
Book Reviews of The Collected Poems of W.B. Yeats
Book Review: One of the Best English Poets in an Inexpensive, Complete Edition
Summary: 5 Stars
W. B. Yeats enjoyed a long, successful, and productive poetic career lasting from the late Victorian era through 1939. More notably, besides Thomas Hardy and in great contrast to, say, William Wordsworth and Alfred Tennyson, he is probably the only English poet who not only continued to write up until his death but also produced some of his best work in later years. Many, including me, indeed think his last work his best. He wrote some of the most famous poems of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and is certainly one of the greatest poets of the latter. His long career, coupled with the many personal, philosophical, political, and other changes he went through, ensured that his work can be conveniently divided into three distinct eras. The first has a self-consciously ornate style heavily influenced by Romanticism and pre-Raphaelite imagery. Some of his earliest works have cosmopolitan subjects, but most of the first era is concerned with Irish folklore and mythology. Yeats had a deep abiding interest in this material and is one of its most articulate and memorable exponents, playing a large role in its becoming an important part of Western culture. His second period is often described as being influenced by younger Modernist poets, but I see little connection between his work and theirs, particularly as he remained wed to traditional forms. However, it is certain that his work underwent a major change. Most obviously, he became more concise, turning exclusively to short, mostly lyrical works at once more direct and more allusive than early writings. These poems have great beauty that can be appreciated on a very simple level but also reveal complex meanings on close study. His subjects also branched out, notably including several great political works, though he retained a strong Irish focus. Yeats' third period may almost be seen as a mix of the first two. He returned to some early subject matter, but the style was more like the second era's. More importantly, his work became more and more personal, even at times confessional - as well as more explicitly sexual, very interesting considering his old age. This shows itself not least in the mystical thought that came to dominate his last few decades. He had always been interested the occult, but many of his poems just before and after his 1925 non-fiction work A Vision are heavily colored by what might almost be called a self-created mythology. Some deride this, finding it intellectually shallow or even simply crackpot, but it certainly led to many interesting and important poems and set him apart.
A collected edition is thus ideal for many reasons, his consistent excellence being most obvious. Perhaps no poet is more suited to being read in full, because it brings out several elements that would be overlooked, or even missed altogether, by reading Yeats sporadically. First, despite his three widely different periods, he always focused intensely on a small number of themes, love and Ireland being primary. Second and relatedly, unlike many poets, he is notable for constantly returning to a handful of metaphors - rose, gyre, tower, etc. -, constantly refining and expanding their meaning. It is fascinating to see how his use and understanding of these symbols developed and how their various uses play off each other.
There are several widely available collected editions that differ more in presentation than content. This features all the poems Yeats authorized, painstakingly edited to ensure accuracy - nearly four hundred in all over about 450 pages including the short closet drama The Shadowy Waters. As this suggests, Yeats was not especially prolific for someone with such a long career, but he was a consummate craftsman. The poems are laid out chronologically, following the order Yeats set out in his 1933 collected works plus later additions. We thus basically get every Yeats poem just as he wanted them to be read. It is an extremely valuable collection - a veritable goldmine for anyone who loves great poetry, Irish history and culture, or simply great literature period.
Whether this particular collected edition is ideal depends on what is needed. It includes many pages of notes with basic information about allusions and historical references. Anyone wanting to know only what one must be aware of to understand the poems will find them invaluable. On the other hand, anyone wanting detailed criticism or biographical exposition will be disappointed, especially as there is no scholarly introduction or biographical sketch. However, even some of the former may be annoyed by the format. The information is given as endnotes without identifying marks in the text. This is great for those without need for notes, as no marks or footnotes clog the page. Conversely, it is extremely frustrating to those who want them, as they must constantly flip to the back without knowing when there is a note. The notes also point out things that are extremely obvious to many people - e.g., "Jesus Christ is Son of God in the Christian religion" -, but the editor justifies this by saying Yeats has a worldwide audience, and what is obvious to some is not obvious to all. This is true but will hardly lessen annoyance for many. The editor also elects to repeat information rather than cross-referencing, which will also likely invoke ambivalent reactions. There are two appendices: Yeats' notes to his collected poems up to 1933, with further editorial notes, and musical notation for some of his poems that had been scored. The latter is mostly superfluous, the former extremely valuable. There are also indices by title and first line. Finally, it is easy to object to the book's division into "Lyric" and "Dramatic and Narrative," the latter with only about a dozen entries. It disrupts chronology and is also somewhat arbitrary; several poems in each section arguably belong in the other, and only one in the latter is significantly longer than those in the former. That said, this was Yeats' own system.
All told, this is an excellent edition for anyone wanting Yeats' poems in one book in a portable, readable, inexpensive format. Font size is ample, making for easy reading and giving plenty of room for annotations. Line numbers are also included. These are luxuries usually only available in expensive editions and greatly appreciated. On the negative side, the binding is quite cheap, and one must be somewhat careful with the book if it is to last through multiple readings over years. However, this is a small complaint for such a low-priced, inclusive edition. Those seeking higher quality paper can easily find a more expensive edition to suit them, but the content itself cannot be bettered, and the value is almost unbelievable.
Summary of The Collected Poems of W.B. Yeats
The Collected Poems of W. B. Yeats includes all of the poems authorized by Yeats for inclusion in his standard canon. Breathtaking in range, it encompasses the entire arc of his career, from luminous reworkings of ancient Irish myths and legends to passionate meditations on the demands and rewards of youth and old age, from exquisite, occasionally whimsical songs of love, nature, and art to somber and angry poems of life in a nation torn by war and uprising. In observing the development of rich and recurring images and themes over the course of his body of work, we can trace the quest of this century's greatest poet to unite intellect and artistry in a single magnificent vision.Revised and corrected, this edition includes Yeats's own notes on his poetry, complemented by explanatory notes from esteemed Yeats scholar Richard J. Finneran. The Collected Poems of W. B. Yeats is the most comprehensive edition of one of the world's most beloved poets available in paperback.
William Butler Yeats, whom many consider this century's greatest poet, began as a bard of the Celtic Twilight, reviving legends and Rosicrucian symbols. By the early 1900s, however, he was moving away from plush romanticism, his verse morphing from the incantatory rhythms of "I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree" into lyrics "as cold and passionate as the dawn." At every stage, however, Yeats plays a multiplicity of poetic roles. There is the romantic lover of "When You Are Old" and "A Poet to His Beloved" ("I bring you with reverent Hands / The books of my numberless dreams..."). And there are the far more bitter celebrations of Maud Gonne, who never accepted his love and engaged in too much politicking for his taste: "Why should I blame her that she filled my days / With misery, or that she would of late / Have taught to ignorant men most violent ways, / Or hurled the little streets upon the great, / Had they but courage equal to desire?" There is also the poet of conscience--and confrontation. His 1931 "Remorse for Intemperate Speech" ends: "Out of Ireland have we come. / Great hatred, little room, / Maimed us at the start. / I carried from my mother's womb / A fanatic heart."
Yeats was to explore several more sides of himself, and of Ireland, before his Last Poems of 1938-39. Many are difficult, some snobbish, others occult and spiritualist. As Brendan Kennelly writes, Yeats "produces both poppycock and sublimity in verse, sometimes closely together." On the other hand, many prophetic masterworks are poppycock-free--for example, "The Second Coming" ("Turning and turning in the widening gyre / The falcon cannot hear the falconer; / Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; / Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world...") and such inquiries into inspiration as "Among School Children" ("O body swayed to music, O brightening glance, How can we know the dancer from the dance?"). And at his best, Yeats extends the meaning of love poetry beyond the obviously romantic: love becomes a revolutionary emotion, attaching the poet to friends, history, and the passionate life of the mind. --Kerry Fried
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