In this updated and expanded life of William Butler Yeats, the
author shows clearly that good biography is a living entity.
Revisions in the biographies of major figures will always be
necessary where there is a continuous incoming flow of new material
to explore and explain. A noted authority on Yeats, Professor
Jeffares concentrates on untangling the strands of his subject's
multiple endeavours and tries to distil the essence of one of the
greatest poets in the English language. Chapters are split into
specific narrative episodes, building a portrait of a man doggedly
pursuing his goal of bringing Irish literature to the wider world.
Yeats explored the supernatural and immersed himself in folklore.
He was involved in Irish politics and in the formation of the Irish
National Theatre. He wrote poetry, plays, essays, a novel and his
memoirs. He lectured abroad, was interested in automatic writing,
became a member of the Irish Senate, restored a castle, organised a
Young Ireland League to unite Irish literary societies and promote
the publication of Irish books, launched the Irish Academy of
Letters, edited the Oxford Book of Modern Verse and was awarded the
Nobel Prize for Literature. Above all, he worked tirelessly to
awaken people to an understanding of the beauty and significance of
Ireland's past: its myths, its legends, its history. His ambition
was no less than the promotion of Ireland's own cultural identity.
Running like a silken thread through the book is Yeats's
fascination with the love of his life, the beautiful revolutionary
Maud Gonne. Yeats proposed to her on numerous occasions over a
period of 25 years. Though she always rejected him, she remained
his spiritual partner and the catalyst for much of his greatest
poetry. While ruling out physical passion, she once wrote of an
astral experience she had with Yeats: 'We melted into one another
till we found only one being, a being greater than ourselves who
felt all and knew all with double intensity.' Yeats himself would
have fully approved of this extended biography since he believed
that his own life was 'an experiment in living' and that those who
came after had a right to know about it. Packed and densely
written, it will educate those who know little of Yeats and delight
serious scholars. (Kirkus UK)
Half a century ago, Norman Jeffares wrote the definitive biography
of W.B. Yeats, which was subsequently published in a revised
edition in 1990 to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the
poet's death. The present volume, a re-issue of the 1990 edition
with a new introduction and bibliography, is an account of Yeats'
life and work, together with a fascinating collection of letters,
photographs and poetry.
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