The Poetry of W. B. Yeats: early to middle poems, 1899-1914

What is the course about?

This in-college course explores the development of Yeats’s poetic career from his ‘early’ to ‘middle’ periods, considering his poems in relation to important contexts. We shall examine Yeats’ interest in Celtic mythology, mysticism and the occult, Irish nationalism, his loves, social milieu, family life, the importance of Lady Augusta Gregory, and his relation to Romantic and Aesthetic writers. We’ll consider his complex attitudes to standards of aesthetic value, social class, and the role of ‘sprezzatura’ in both poetic form and gatekeeping of aesthetics.

Can we unlock the mystery of a man who, afraid of insincerity, ‘struggled unsuccessfully to fuse or separate the several characters by whom he felt himself to be peopled’?

What will we cover?

The course spans the years 1899-1919, examining his first five collections of poetry: Crossways (1889), The Rose (1893), The Wind Among the Reeds (1899), In the Seven Woods (1904), The Green Helmet and Other Poems (1910), and Responsibilities (1914), a turning point in his career. We shall consider the founding of The Rhymers Club, looks at how the young Yeats responded to the Aesthetic movement, and the ways he developed the collection The Secret Rose alongside his interest in Celtic mythology. Moving from the symbolist writer of The Wind Among the Reeds, a public man emerges, engaging with the rigours of Irish nationalism, the uprisings, and the traumas of warfare. Stressing the collections The Green Helmet and Responsibilities as a turning points in his career, his complex development as a poet will be considered. We will explore his social engagement with the launching of the Abbey Theatre, matters of censorship, views on literary tradition, and Irish popular traditions,.
In studying these texts we will cover some important concepts of poetry, including intertextuality, intratextuality, literary tradition, palimpsest, self-reflexivity, scansion and versification.

What will I achieve?
By the end of this course you should be able to...

• Appreciate the challenges and rewards of the varied poetic forms Yeats uses
• Understand how Yeats used these forms to depict individual and collective experiences at a particular time in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries
• Identify the ways Yeats continued to experiment throughout his career
• Discuss the relevance of Yeats’ engagement with folklore, politics, national identity, Romantic and Aesthetic writing,

What level is the course and do I need any particular skills?

Some experience of the study of poetry would be useful but all are welcome.

Learners will need to have an enthusiasm for poetry, an open-mindedness towards different approaches to interpretation, and a willingness to listen to the views of others.

How will I be taught, and will there be any work outside the class?

There will be a mixture of tutor presentation and small-group and whole-class discussion. We will study key poems from each collection.

Are there any other costs? Is there anything I need to bring?

Key poems will be provided in advance of the class.

The tutor will be selecting poems from:

WB Yeats, Poetry, ed. Daniel Albright (Everyman Classics)

Further extracts will be provided from range of contextual sources to enrich our studies: literary, biographical, social, and historical.

When I've finished, what course can I do next?

The tutor will also be teaching HLT388 The Poetry of W.B. Yeats: later poems 1919-1939 in term three. Look for other Poetry courses on the website at www.citylit.ac.uk under Culture, History and Humanities/Literature/Poetry.