Poetry

W. B. Yeats played many roles in Ireland at the turn of the twentieth century: playwright, essayist, critic, mystic, theater manager, revolutionary, and politician. But he was first and foremost a poet—perhaps the most famous poet Ireland has yet produced. This collection contains Yeats’ verse from his first published poem, “Song of the Fairies,” which appeared in a Dublin literary magazine in 1885, through 1928’s The Tower. In them the reader can trace the growth of the poet’s voice and the influences on his writing, from Irish nationalism to esoteric metaphysics. Included are some of Yeats’ most enduringly popular works: “The Second Coming,” “The Lake Isle of Innisfree,” and “The Wild Swans at Coole.”