W. B. Yeats

Biography

W.B.Yeats was an Anglo-Irish poet and playwright 1865 and 1939. A pillar of British and Irish literature, his highly artistic form gave expression to the spirit of entire nations. Born in Dublin, Yeats studied poetry from an early age and became fascinated with the concepts of romanticism and the occult. Yeats' body of verse in incredibly diverse and ranges from slow-paced lyrical poems and ballads written in the style of Edmund Spenser and Percy Shelly, to more physical and realistic poems with political allegories. Yeats idealism often changes depending on his own personal circumstances. During his youth, Yeats lexical field is colloquial and romantic but after his rejection by Maude Gonne and disillusionment into middle age his verse becomes much more evocative and his view on sexuality appears much more sardonic. The Love Poems therefore are a brilliantly diverse collection.