Research Paper On Yeats

William Butler Yeats: Poetic Influences from His Irish and British Heritage William Butler Yeats was born on June 13, 1865 in Dublin, Ireland. Susan Mary Pollexfen, his mother, was loving and caring and stood in the middle of a house divided by politics. Her father was strong in the political arena and believed Britain should continue to control Ireland, while her husband, John, believed Ireland should govern themselves as Nationalist. This in-house conflict, most likely, had an effect on William and may have been an influence in his poetic offerings. Further influences in his writing came from watching his father go after his dream of becoming a well-known painter of portraits.

John, Yeats’ father, abandoned his career choice of

He weakly followed the Protestant faith while denouncing the Roman Catholic faith that most of Ireland embraced. Instead, Yeats influence from Percy Bysshe Shelley’s early writings, were now rises and causing him to delve deeply into the study of theosophy, which, according to Merriam Webster, is “religious philosophy with mystical concerns that can be traced to the ancient world. It holds that God, whose essence pervades the universe as an absolute reality, can be known only through mystical experience. It is characterized by esoteric doctrine and an interest in occult phenomena” (theosophy.) Also of interest to him was mysticism, “a religious practice based on the belief that knowledge of spiritual truth can be gained by praying or thinking deeply” (mysticism); spiritualism, a form of communicating with the dead and the Kabbalah, which is “a medieval and modern system of Jewish theosophy, mysticism marked by belief in creation through emanation and a cipher method of interpreting Scripture” (kabbalah.) Yeats focus was on the occult and understanding secret matters and their effect in his life. He, also, had an interest in

He was very versatile and could handle the simplest expressions, color the darker interpretations and speak political injustices and freedoms with ease. Yeats was heavily influenced in his writing by his mother, exposing him to the love of Ireland and the rich heritage they had; his father and his love for the arts and his pursuit of excellence, along with a driving spirit to survive oppression and injustice because of his father’s humiliating treatment to him in the presence of others; the many writers and artists who visited his home as a young boy and spoke on various subject, not just the arts; his love of reading Shakespeare and other deep thinkers; his not being afraid to voice his opinion and speak out for what he believed was right; and finally, his involvement in the occult, the people associated with it and other dark practices, which he began in England. These all contributed to his writing and made him a very deep, provocative and in some ways, a depressed composer of