 William was born on June 13 th, 1865 in Dublin, Ireland  William’s childhood was spent moving back and forth from London, Dublin, and Sligo, Ireland (the hometown of William’s mother)  He was homeschooled by his mother who focused on poetry, Irish folklore and the politic of Ireland which greatly influenced his later works  The Yeats family moved to London in 1874 in hopes that the move would help further the art career of William’s father, who would later become a well known painter  In 1877, William was enrolled in the Godolphin Primary School where is did poorly, especially in mathematics and languages

The Yeats family returned to Dublin in 1880 where Yeats was enrolled into Erasmus Smith High School He joined the Metropolitan School of Art in 1884 after graduating from High School, where he attended until 1886 The Poetry of Samuel Ferguson (1885) was Yeats’s first published poem The Yeats family moved back to London in 1887 Yeats cofounded the Dublin Hermetic Order in 1885 and was named Chairman He was also involved in the Theosophisical Society and the Hermeticism movement. Yeats met Maud Gonne in 1889 and fell in love with her and her feminist and nationalist poetry

 During the early 1890’s, Yeats met many of the important poets of his time while in London  Yeats became strongly involved in mysticism, spiritualism, occultism and astrology which heavily influenced his poetry and plays  In 1890, Yeats created a group of poets called the Rymer’s Club  In 1890, Yeats joined the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and became a vigilant follower and recruiter  Yeats founded the National (Irish) Literary Society in Dublin in 1892  Yeats helped to organize the Irish dramatic movement and began to produce plays that focused on politics and the economical problems of the time  In 1912, Yeats claimed that he was approached by a spirit during a séance who called itself Leo Africanus and claimed to be Yeats’s Daemon (anti-self)

In 1911, Yeats met George Hyde Lees who shared his love of the mystical subjects. The Easter Uprising of 1916 shook Yeats’s confidence when he realized that his nationalist work and poetry had influenced many of the men that were imprisoned or executed for the uprising The influence of the uprising can be seen throughout his poetry On October 20, 1917 Yeats finally married George Lees and had two children: Anne (1919) and Michael (1921) In 1922, Yeats was became a Senator in the Ireland Free State where he helped to promote the arts and focused on general politics

Yeats was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature due to his contributions to both English and Irish literature Yeats finally retired from politics in 1928 due to illness though he remained a big supporter of republicanism The final years of his life were filled with illness and several medical operations. Yeasts refused to allow his illness to stop him and took the job as editor of the Oxford Book of Modern Verses in He passed away on January 28 th, 1939 at the age of 73

Did you like/dislike the poems? What was your favorite poem? What made it stand out to you?

In "The Irish Airman foresees his Death,” how does the airman’s involvement in World War I relate to his “lonely impulse of delight,” and what does the “lonely impulse of delight” say about his understanding of the war? What does the poem itself seem to say about the war?

Nationalism was a large influence for Yeats’s work. What poems made this obvious? How might his work have influenced those who took part in the Easter Uprising of 1916?

What does the poem, “The Second Coming,” suggest about poetry's power to render great events intelligible, or to relate present conditions to future possibilities?

In “The Rose of the World” what does the rose symbolize? What argument is Yeats trying to make about it?

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