Yeats’s Poetry I: The Early Years (1885-1910)

The poetry of W.B. Yeats (1865-1939) changes over the half century during which he wrote. At this meeting we will be reading some poems from the early phases of his career. They are poems of legend, nature and love which are often in a Romantic vein. Some of them refer to Maud Gonne (1866-1953) who was the great (unrequited) love of his life and who is a presence in his work throughout his career. We will look at the following (often short) poems which can be found at https://www.poetryfoundation.org/ ‘The Sad Shepherd’, 1889; ‘The Lake Isle of Innisfree’, 1893; ‘When You Are Old’, 1893; ‘To Ireland in the Coming Times’, 1893; ‘To the Rose upon the Rood of Time’, 1893; ‘Down By the Salley Gardens’, 1889; ‘The Cap and Bells’, 1899; ‘The Song of Wandering Aengus’, 1899; ‘The Fish’, 1899; ‘He wishes his Beloved were Dead’, 1899; ‘Adam’s Curse’, 1904; ‘Never give all the Heart’, 1904.
All are welcome. Feel free to take part by joining in discussion or simply by listening to the proceedings.