“But I, being poor, have only my dreams; I have spread my dreams under your feet; Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.”

 Irish Poet and Author  Born June 13, 1865 in Sandymount, Dublin, Ireland  Lived in London from and again in 1887  Attended the Metropolitan School of Art in Dublin  Served on the senate for the foundation of the Irish Free State from  He received the Nobel Prize for Literature in  Died Jan. 28, 1939, in Roquebrune- Cap-Martin, France  He is buried in Sligo and he wrote his own Epitaph › “Cast a cold eye/ On life, on death./ Horseman, pass by!”

 Father › John Butler Yeats  Lawyer & Portrait Painter  Mother › Susan (Pollexfen) Yeats  Wife › Miss George Hyde-Lees  Married in 1917  Children › Anne Butler Yeats (1919) › William Michael Yeats (1921)  Anglo-Irish Protestant  Separated from religion › Did not share Roman Catholic Faith › Did not agree with the Protestant concern for material things › His beliefs most closely resemble those of the Pagan tradition Religion

 Yeats believed that through poems and plays he could create a unified Irish Nation  He helped build & the Irish Literary Theater from › which became the Abbey Theater in 1904 › He contributed his own plays to the theater such as  The land of Heart’s Desire (1894)  Cathleen ni Houlihan (1902)  The Hour Glass (1903)  The King’s Threshold (1904)  On Baile’s Strand (1905)  Deirdre (1907)

 Studied William Blake  Spent much of his childhood in Sligo, Ireland › Many of his poems are based on Sligo’s scenery, folklore, and legends  Purchased a devastated castle called Thoor Ballylee › The castle becomes a symbol in many of his latest works

 Yeats utilizes imagery in many of his works and often times he will repeat the same image over and over again in many poems to further enrich them and to share different perspectives on them › Some of his most common images include; › Leda and the Swan › Helen and the burning of Troy › the Tower in its many forms › the sun and moon › the burning house › cave, thorn tree, and well › eagle, heron, sea gull, and hawk › blind man, lame man, and beggar › unicorn and phoenix › horse, hound, and boar

 Early Works › Have a supernatural, imaginative and prophetic feel to them › Called Pre-Raphaelite  From › He uses more bare and indicative imagery › He writes about realities imperfections  From 1917 onward › Renewal of Inspiration › Utilizes his castle as a symbol in many of his works entitled The Tower (1928)

" William Butler Yeats." Encyclopædia Britannica Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 07 Dec