Yeats several noble Japanese plays. Grigory Kruzhkov

Place of Birth Date of death 28 January(1939-01-28 ) […] (73 years old) A place of death

Menton, France

Citizenship (nationality) Occupation poet, playwright Language of works English Awards () Awards

nli.ie/yeats Files on Wikimedia Commons Quotes on Wikiquote

Articles about hermeticism

Biography

In 1885, Yeats met John O'Leary, a member of the Irish secret society "Fenians", who returned to Dublin after many years of imprisonment and exile. Under the influence of a new acquaintance, Yeats begins to write poems and articles in a patriotic vein; numerous images of ancient Irish Celtic culture appear in his poetics.

Yeats's interest in the occult also began early. While still at art school, he met George Russell, later a famous poet and occultist who wrote under the pseudonym A.E. They and several others founded the Hermetic Society for the study of magic and Eastern religions under the chairmanship of Yeats. In the mid-1880s he briefly joined the Theosophical Society, but soon became disillusioned with it.

On January 30, 1889, Yeats met Maude Gonn, who became his long-term love. She was an active participant in the Irish independence movement, and involved Yeats in the political struggle. Yeats did not abandon his passion for occult disciplines, so in 1890 he joined the Order of the Golden Dawn, founded shortly before by his acquaintance MacGregor Mathers.

In 1899, Yeats’s collection of poems “The Wind in the Reeds” was published; according to critics, the main achievement of the early stage of his work. The imagery of Yeats's poetry at this time is replete with characters from Celtic mythology and folklore. Yeats gains a reputation as a singer of the "Celtic twilight", a time of decline in Irish national culture, seeking strength only in the revival of the forgotten heritage of the past.

The beginning of the twentieth century was marked by Yeats's increased interest in the theater. He takes an active part in the work of the first Irish national theater, the Abbey Theatre, whose long-term director he soon becomes. Yeats writes several plays, the style of which was noticeably influenced by Japanese Noh theater. At the same time, Yeats met the then aspiring modernist poet Ezra Pound, who had a certain influence on Yeats's style.

In the spring of 1917, Yeats bought his famous "tower", mentioned many times in his later work as a symbol of traditional values and spiritual development. This is a manor house with an abandoned Norman watchtower located in County Galway, Ireland. He puts a lot of effort into making his family nest out of this dilapidated structure. After all, in the fall of the same 1917, he finally got married. The marriage to twenty-five-year-old Georgie Hyde-Leese turned out to be successful, the couple had two children: a son and a daughter.

In 1923, Yeats was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.

Yeats does not abandon his passion for the occult. In 1925, the fruit of his many years of reflection on the topic was published - the book “Vision”, in which he connects the stages of development of the human spirit with the phases of the Moon. At a more mature age, Yeats experienced a rebirth as a poet, and released two collections of poetry, which are the pinnacle of his creative development - “The Tower” (1928) and “The Spiral Staircase” (1933).

He died in a hotel in Menton, France in 1939. He was also buried in France, but in 1948 his ashes were transported to Ireland and reburied in the small village of Drumcliffe, on the shores of Sligo Bay.

Creation

Yeats's early works are imbued with motifs of Celtic folklore and are characterized by a neo-romantic style, with a noticeable influence of the occult. A number of works (including the play “Kathleen, Holien’s Daughter”) are not alien to political and national trends.

His first major work was The Island of Statues, a fantasy poem that was never reprinted during the author's lifetime and was not included in a collection of poems because it was too long in the author's opinion.

His first collection of poems, The Wanderings of Oisin, was published in 1889. The book is filled with obscure Celtic titles and unusual repetitions, and the rhythm of the verses changes throughout the three sections. The book is based on Irish mythology and is also influenced by the works of Samuel Ferguson and the Pre-Raphaelite poets. It took the poet two years to write this work. Its theme is the conversion of contemplative life to active life.

The same year saw the publication of his book on Irish folklore, Fairy and Folk Tales, with notes compiled by Yeats from his own research in western Ireland.

During this period, the author was especially interested in poetic dramas, the result of which was the drama “The Countess Kathleen”, written in verse (1892). This drama tells the story of the self-sacrifice of an Irish countess to save peasants from starvation.

The collection “In the Seven Woods” (1903) included poems written mainly on themes from Irish epic. It is noteworthy that starting from this collection, there is a transition from pompous forms to a more colloquial style.

His other most important works:

"The Celtic Twilight", 1893, a collection of articles on Irish folklore;
“The Land of Hearts Desire,” a play in verse (1894);
A Book of Irish Verses (1895), an anthology of Irish ballads;
“Poems” (“Poems”, 1895);
“The Secret Rose” (1897), a collection of tales, original and adapted from Irish folk tales, written in the most elegant prose;
“The Wind among the Reeds”, 1899, poem;
"The Shadowy Waters" (1900), a poem later turned into a drama;
"Ideas of Good and Evil" (1903), collection of articles;

One of Yeats's most famous poems, "Easter 1916", is dedicated to the Easter Rising, with a number of executed or exiled leaders of which Yeats was personally associated, and is accompanied by the refrain: "A terrible beauty was born" ( A terrible beauty is born). One of the central motifs of his lyrics is his tragic love for Maud Gonn, an Irish revolutionary.

After the First World War and the Irish Civil War, Yeats changed his poetics; in his later lyrics there are tragic historiosophical and cultural images, the style becomes noticeably more complicated.

In the collection “The wild swans at Coole” (“The wild swans at Coole”, 1919), the author focuses on effective people whose will can change the world and reveal their personality.

Having become interested in spiritualism, Yeats writes the book “Vision” (1925), in which he interprets historical and psychological moments from a mystical point of view.

Yeats wrote in a symbolist style, using indirect symbols and symbolic structures. The words that Yeats uses, in addition to having a special meaning, also represent abstract thoughts that seem more important. His use of symbols is always physical in nature, which represents both a direct and other, non-material, timeless concept. At a time when modernists were using free versification, Yeats stuck to traditional forms. “Responsibilities” and “The Green Helmet” belong to this middle period of his work.

The poetry of the later period is more personal in nature, and in the poetry of the last 20 years of his life, the poet’s children are mentioned and there are even reflections on his aging. One of the poems of this period is “The Circus Animals" Desertion".

The most significant collections of poetry since 1910 are The Green Helmet (1910) and Responsibilities (1914). The collections The Tower (1928), The Winding Stair (1929), and New Poems (1938) include some of the most powerful imagery in twentieth-century poetry. and are marked by the great skill of the author and his broad imagination.

I own the heavenly brocade
Of gold and silver
Dawn and night brocade
From haze, darkness and silver,
I would spread it out in front of you, -
But I have only dreams.
I spread out my dreams;
Don't trample on my dreams.
translation by Grigory Kruzhkov

This article is dedicated to the great Irish poet and playwright William Butler Yeats, one of the creators of modern poetic drama. Symbolism and romanticism are clearly expressed in his work. His poetry is quite difficult to understand; it must be “tasted” - reading slowly and thoughtfully. And, of course, in the original. Perhaps a mention of this author on a blog will help someone discover a new name, and a small selection of poems will win another heart and create a desire to know Yeats’s poetry better.

Yeats's early years

“Lord, button up my soul”

Yeats William Butler was born on June 13, 1865 on the outskirts of Dublin into a prosperous family. On his mother's side, his ancestors were sailors, and his paternal grandfather was a priest. The mother is the daughter of a merchant, the father received a law degree, but soon after the birth of his son he left with his family for London to study painting, which he always gravitated toward. He became a fairly famous portrait artist, a member of the Royal Irish Academy. One of his famous works is of his son, William Yeats, reading a book.

Two more sons and a daughter were born in London. In 1880, the family returned to the suburbs of Dublin, as they were experiencing financial difficulties. Here Yeats continued his education, first at a regular school, then at an art school and even at an art school at the Royal Irish Academy. Dad dreamed that his son would follow in his footsteps, and William Yeats himself, who grew up among his father’s paintings, thought of making a living by painting. By the way, the younger brother Jack Yeats became the largest Irish artist, famous for his landscape and genre painting. This article will be illustrated with some paintings by the poet's brother Jack Yeats.

Children were brought to Sligo for the summer holidays. William Yeats loved walks alone in picturesque places, loved to listen to Irish folklore, sagas about the Seeds, elves and Druids. The Sids (elves) are a magical people who lived on the hills of Ireland, their ruler was the beautiful Queen Medb, upon seeing whom a man fell in love so much that he died from lovesickness. Yeats lived in fairy tales, and reality had fluid boundaries even from childhood.

John Duncan "March of the Seeds"

“….Hurry, hurry!
Throw mortal dreams out of your heart,
Leaves are spinning, horses are flying,
The wind blows my hair back,
Fiery eyes, pale faces.
The phantom gallop is furious,
Whoever saw us disappeared forever:
He will forget what he dreamed of,
He will forget everything about how he lived before..."

Yeats's first poems

“Responsibility begins in dreams”

Yeats began writing poetry early. At first these were ornate lines on the theme of love lyrics. His poetry was approved by Oscar Wilde. Since 1885, poems in a patriotic vein have appeared; the heroes of his poems are images of ancient Irish Celtic folklore. The success of his publications was so great that Yeats decided to devote himself entirely to literature, abandoning painting.

Yeats's early poetry is very varied. These include Indian love songs, and an immersion in Irish folklore, Celtic legends, ballads, and lyrical poems. He "looked for the future in the past."
“His creations are a “flight to a magical land”, a search for “impossible, incredible beauty.” Images traditional for symbolist poetry are fused with the mythology, legends and fairy tales of Ireland. Key images of birds, waves, and wind are associated with characters from national mythology. The names of places, mysterious and “speaking”, referring to ancient beliefs, create an excited music of words, in which individual words do not seem to require isolation.”

Yeats is an ardent patriot. In his works he talked about the unique spirit of Ireland. Due to his complete immersion in the national culture, the poet is called the “singer of the Celtic twilight.”

...So much evil and sadness! I'll rebuild everything again -
And on a lonely hill I’ll lie down on a spring day,
So that the earth and sky become a golden box
For dreams of a beautiful rose blooming in my heart
translation by Grigory Kruzhkov

Mysticism in Yeats's works

While still studying at art school, Yeats developed an interest in mysticism and the occult. He sought the truth in Kabbalah, was interested in Eastern religions, spiritualistic séances, and fortune telling with Tarot cards. In 1885 he took part in the organization of the Dublin Hermetic Order; he believes in the Pythagorean doctrine of the incarnation of the soul. The poet knew Helena Blavatsky and for some time was even a member of the Theosophical Society. He translated the works of Emanuel Swedenborg and the Upanishads. The theme of mysticism ran through all of his work. And many critics argue that one can comprehend his poetry only by completely plunging into his spiritual world, feeling his ideals and romantic spirit. William Yeats did not separate his life from his poetry, from his work.

Yeats's main philosophical book-treatise was born thanks to sessions of “automatic writing”, when the theory of the circulation of the human soul and history was “dictated” to him. The treatise talks about the cyclicality and evolution of the human soul, about its reincarnations and its evolution. It contains his philosophical and life credo.

Yeats's first love is the Poet's Muse.

At 24, Yeats met the beautiful Maud Gonne. Maude Gonne was not only beautiful, she had a vibrant personality. An actress, a rich and independent woman who knew her worth, she easily captivated men and it is not surprising that she immediately won Yates’s heart. He recalled that at their first meeting he approached her and asked her to marry him. But Maud refused the young man in love and offered friendship. He proposed 3 times and was refused 3 times. The young girl fiercely defended Irish independence, took an active part in the revolutionary movement and drew the ardent young man into the patriotic struggle.

She becomes his Muse, his great but unrequited love for many years.

“My love, oh my love, the woman who is to blame for the fact that I have become worthless, the woman whose evil is more valuable than any good from another woman. My treasure, oh my treasure, a woman with gray eyes, a woman in the crook of whose arm my head will never rest.
My love, oh my love, the woman with whom I am exhausted, the woman who will not sigh for me, the woman who will never erect a gravestone for me.
My secret love, oh my secret love, a woman who doesn’t say a word to me, a woman who forgets me as soon as I leave her.
My chosen one, oh my chosen one, a woman who does not look after me, a woman who will not make peace with me.
My desire, oh, my desire, a woman who is dearer under the sun, a woman who does not see me when I sit next to her.
The woman who crushed my heart, the woman for whom I will forever sigh.”

As disappointment in love comes, disappointment in the political struggle comes.

“...That's what we're up to
We've become philosophical, that's what it's like
Our world is a tangle of fighting ferrets!”

3 years before his death he would write “communists, fascists, nationalists, clerics, anti-clericals - they should all be judged in accordance with the number of their victims.”

The famous Yates Tower

In the spring of 1917, Yeats acquired his famous “tower”, his castle - Tour Ballyli, which for him was associated with a symbol of traditional values and spiritual development, and for his admirers it was and is a symbol of his later poetry. This small manor house, with its abandoned Norman watchtower (the structure dates back to the 14th century), was bought for the ridiculous price of around £35. William Yates, who is already 52, decides to get married so that he can have heirs. He proposes to Maud Gonne again and is refused for the last time. Then he chooses a young 25-year-old Englishwoman, Georgie Hyde-Lees, whom he wants to bring to his family home. She agrees. Women have liked him all his life, except for the one he loved all his life.

The poet is captivated by the ivy-covered tower, the view from it, the river and the beauty of the surrounding area. A lot of effort is being spent on restoring this destroyed place. After all, no one lived in it for 100 years.

Walter de la Mare, Bertha Georgie Yeats, William Butler Yeats, summer 1930; Photo by Lady Ottoline Morrell

For 12 years, the Tower has become an island of peace and relaxation for the soul. Despite the fact that he and his wife came here only in the summer, the days spent here were the most beloved and fruitful. In the room, with a magnificent wide window opening onto the river and hills, he would write his most famous works and dedicate some of them to his Tower - the collections “The Tower” and “The Spiral Staircase”. He loved the Tour of Ballylee and argued that leaving here meant leaving beauty.

The decor was simple, almost medieval. Yeats ordered furniture from local cabinetmakers based on his own sketches. Stone floors, mats. There are 4 rooms in the Tower (1 on each floor). He is especially sensitive to the steep spiral staircase that connects these rooms. “This twisting, spinning, leaping staircase reminds me of my family tree.”

Enter the steep stairs into the darkness,
Focus on the circular climb,
Reject all vain thoughts except
Blind aspirations to the heights of the stars,
To that black abyss above your head,
Where does the fragmented light flow from?
Through the ancient jagged loopholes.
How to differentiate between the soul and darkness?….

After the death of the poet, the Tower was abandoned, but by 1965, for Yeats's centenary, it was transformed and now houses the poet's museum - Yeats Tower with a sign reading

Jack Butler Yeats
I own the heavenly brocade
Of gold and silver
Dawn and night brocade
From haze, darkness and silver,
I would spread it out in front of you, -
But I have only dreams.
I spread out my dreams;
Don't trample on my dreams.
translation by Grigory Kruzhkov

Dear friends! This article is dedicated to the great Irish poet and playwright William Butler Yeats, one of the creators of modern poetic drama. Symbolism and romanticism are clearly expressed in his work. I first came across this poet after reading the translation of his lines with which this article began. They amazed me with their beauty. For a long time I did not dare to write about him, because I am not an expert on Yeats. His poetry is quite difficult to understand; it must be “tasted” - reading slowly and thoughtfully. And, of course, in the original. But I still want to touch on the work of this poet and playwright. Perhaps my mention of this author on the blog will help someone discover a new name, and a small selection of poems will win another heart and create a desire to know Yeats’s poetry better.

Yeats's early years

“Lord, button up my soul”
Yeats William Butler was born on June 13, 1865 on the outskirts of Dublin into a prosperous family. On his mother's side, his ancestors were sailors, and his paternal grandfather was a priest. - the daughter of a merchant, her father received a law degree, but soon after the birth of his son he left with his family for London to study painting, which he always gravitated towards. He became a fairly famous portrait artist, a member of the Royal Irish Academy. One of his famous works is of his son, William Yeats, reading a book.

Jack Butler Yeats
Children were brought to Sligo for the summer holidays. William Yeats loved walks alone in picturesque places, loved to listen to Irish folklore, sagas about the Seeds, elves and Druids. The Sids (elves) are a magical people who lived on the hills of Ireland, their ruler was the beautiful Queen Medb, upon seeing whom a man fell in love so much that he died from lovesickness. Yeats lived in fairy tales, and reality had fluid boundaries even from childhood.

John Duncan "March of the Seeds"
“….Hurry, hurry!
Throw mortal dreams out of your heart,
Leaves are spinning, horses are flying,
The wind blows my hair back,
Fiery eyes, pale faces.
The phantom gallop is furious,
Whoever saw us disappeared forever:
He will forget what he dreamed of,
He will forget everything about how he lived before..."

Yeats's first poems

“Responsibility begins in dreams”
Yeats began writing poetry early. At first these were ornate lines on the theme of love lyrics. His poetry was approved by Oscar Wilde. Since 1885, poems in a patriotic vein have appeared; the heroes of his poems are images of ancient Irish Celtic folklore. The success of his publications was so great that Yeats decided to devote himself entirely to literature, abandoning painting.

Young Yeats William Butler
by Sargent, John Singer
Yeats's early poetry is very varied. These include Indian love songs, and an immersion in Irish folklore, Celtic legends, ballads, and lyrical poems. He "looked for the future in the past."
“His creations are a “flight to a magical land”, a search for “impossible, incredible beauty.” Images traditional for symbolist poetry are fused with the mythology, legends and fairy tales of Ireland. Key images of birds, waves, and wind are associated with characters from national mythology. The names of places, mysterious and “speaking”, referring to ancient beliefs, create an excited music of words, in which individual words do not seem to require isolation.”

paintings by Jack Yates
Yeats is an ardent patriot. In his works he talked about the unique spirit of Ireland. Due to his complete immersion in the national culture, the poet is called the “singer of the Celtic twilight.”
...So much evil and sadness! I'll rebuild everything again -
And on a lonely hill I’ll lie down on a spring day,
So that the earth and sky become a golden box
For dreams of a beautiful rose blooming in my heart
translation by Grigory Kruzhkov

Mysticism in Yeats's works

Yeats's loneliness
Yeats's main philosophical book-treatise was born thanks to sessions of “automatic writing”, when the theory of the circulation of the human soul and history was “dictated” to him. The treatise talks about the cyclicality and evolution of the human soul, about its reincarnations and its evolution. It contains his philosophical and life credo.

Yeats's first love is the Poet's Muse.

Yeats' Greatest Love Maud Gonne
At 24, Yeats met the beautiful Maud Gonne. Maude Gonne was not only beautiful, she had a vibrant personality. An actress, a rich and independent woman who knew her worth, she easily captivated men and it is not surprising that she immediately won Yates’s heart. He recalled that at their first meeting he approached her and asked her to marry him. But Maud refused the young man in love and offered friendship. He proposed 3 times and was refused 3 times. The young girl fiercely defended Irish independence, took an active part in the revolutionary movement and drew the ardent young man into the patriotic struggle.

Yeats's muse Maud Gonne
She becomes his Muse, his great but unrequited love for many years.

“My love, oh my love, the woman who is to blame for the fact that I have become worthless, the woman whose evil is more valuable than any good from another woman. My treasure, oh my treasure, a woman with gray eyes, a woman in the crook of whose arm my head will never rest.
My love, oh my love, the woman with whom I am exhausted, the woman who will not sigh for me, the woman who will never erect a gravestone for me.
My secret love, oh my secret love, a woman who doesn’t say a word to me, a woman who forgets me as soon as I leave her.
My chosen one, oh my chosen one, a woman who does not look after me, a woman who will not make peace with me.
My desire, oh, my desire, a woman who is dearer under the sun, a woman who does not see me when I sit next to her.
The woman who crushed my heart, the woman for whom I will forever sigh.”

Portrait of Yeats William Butler

As disappointment in love comes, disappointment in the political struggle comes.
“...That's what we're up to
We've become philosophical, that's what it's like
Our world is a tangle of fighting ferrets!”
3 years before his death he would write “communists, fascists, nationalists, clerics, anti-clericals - they should all be judged in accordance with the number of their victims.”

The famous Yates Tower

Walter de la Mare, Bertha Georgie Yeats, William Butler Yeats, summer 1930; Photo by Lady Ottoline Morrell
For 12 years, the Tower has become an island of peace and relaxation for the soul. Despite the fact that he and his wife came here only in the summer, the days spent here were the most beloved and fruitful. In the room, with a magnificent wide window opening onto the river and hills, he would write his most famous works and dedicate some of them to his Tower - the collections “The Tower” and “The Spiral Staircase”. He loved the Tour of Ballylee and argued that leaving here meant leaving beauty.

Portrait of William Yeats
The decor was simple, almost medieval. Yeats ordered furniture from local cabinetmakers based on his own sketches. Stone floors, mats. There are 4 rooms in the Tower (1 on each floor). He is especially sensitive to the steep spiral staircase that connects these rooms. “This twisting, spinning, leaping staircase reminds me of my family tree.”
Enter the steep stairs into the darkness,
Focus on the circular climb,
Reject all vain thoughts except
Blind aspirations to the heights of the stars,
To that black abyss above your head,
Where does the fragmented light flow from?
Through the ancient jagged loopholes.
How to differentiate between the soul and darkness?….
After the death of the poet, the Tower was abandoned, but by 1965, for Yeats's centenary, it was transformed and now houses the poet's museum - Yeats Tower with a sign reading
There is no time, my friends.
There is eternity. And there is love.
I, the poet William Yeats
Revived the tower for my wife Georgia,
And along with the tower, a mill made of old boards and a sea-green roof,
A working forge for craftsmen from Gort.
All this will remain unchanged even then
When everything turns into ruins again.

Master's maturity

His wife Georgie Hyde-Lees gave him a daughter and a son. Despite the hasty decision, the large age difference, and despite some regret during the honeymoon, the marriage was still successful. Soon William Yeats was elected senator of the Irish Free State, and the next year (1923) he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature “For inspired poetic creativity conveying the national spirit in highly artistic form.”
Yeats William Butler excelled in almost every genre. His works include novellas, critical essays, short stories, plays, adaptations of Irish myths and legends, an autobiography, and the religious and philosophical treatise “The Vision,” which he considered his best book. He was always very demanding of himself. He repeatedly declared his abandonment of what he had done earlier, continuously changed and varied his works, but with all the mobility of his poetry, from the first to the last collections, it retains that emotional intensity, the strength of which is felt by subsequent generations.

William Butler Yeats photographic portrait
“Education is not filling a bucket with water, but lighting a fire.”
Yeats William Butler not only wrote poetry and plays, he created the Irish national theatre, the Abbey Theatre. He was one of the founders of the Irish Academy of Literature, took part in radio broadcasts, and edited the Oxford Anthology of Modern Poetry.
William Yeats's plays are not as popular as his poems, but every year they become more and more in demand among theater directors. Some of William Yeats Butler's plays have been called the best verse dramas of the last 100 years. Later works were intended mainly for display or reading before a select public, so they may not always be understandable. Their style becomes more complex, there are a lot of symbols and images, there is depth in every line, a lot of esotericism. And how well the author’s translator must feel in order to convey to us that music of words and secret meaning with which Yeats’s poems are so captivating. Unfortunately, I cannot read it in the original. Therefore, we have to be content with translations. But the translations are very, very different even in their essence. Below, I deliberately made a selection of the same poems, but in different readings. Choose those that are more consonant with you.
Ireland, Mount Benbulben, Yates' grave

(c) photo by Mick Hunt, Mount Benbulben
The great poet passed away on January 28, 1939. He was buried at the foot of his beloved Mount Benbulben. The gravestone inscription is lines from "Under Ben Bulben"
“Throw a cold look
For life, for death,
Rider, pass by.”
A selection of Yeats' poems and quotes

Paintings of Brother Jack Butler Yeats
To your heart, with a plea for courage.
Hush, heart, hush! calm fear;
Remember the wisdom of the ancient lesson:
One who fears waves and fire
And the winds humming along the starry roads,
Will be the will of the wind, waves and fire
Erased without a trace, because he is a stranger
To the lonely courage of being.
***
My favorite is the original. Yeats dedicated it to Maud Gonne
Had I the heavens’ embroidered cloths,
Inwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.
He Dreams of Yeats's Brocade of Heaven

The poet dreams of heavenly silk
If only I could get silk from heaven,
Woven with a golden ray,
So that day, and shadow, and dawn from heaven
They cast it in blue and gold, -
I would spread it out for you to pass.
But all my wealth is in my dreams;
I spread the dream for you to pass,
Darling, carefully according to my dream.
translation by B. Rivkin

Painting of the poet's brother Jack Butler Yeats

When you get old
Someday, an old gray-haired woman
You open the book, sit by the fire, -
My poems! - and you will remember about me,
And your gaze will flash, tender and alive.
You are your charm in the hearts of men
She gave birth to storms, light and darkness.
But who noticed the wanderer's dream
And the mournful face that opened for a moment?
The fireplace is hot, like a burnt-out bridge.
You will remember how Love left in tears
And she grieved high in the mountains,
Burying your face in a myriad of stars.
translation by Boris Rivkin
Another translation by Grigory Kruzhkov
To the tune of Ronsard
When you become old and gray,
Remember, dozing off by the fireplace,
Poems in which every line,
As of old, I am bitter with your beauty.
You've heard a lot throughout your life
Crazy vows, unbridled praises;
But only one loved and understood
Your wandering soul and melancholy.
And remembering the departed ardor,
Whisper, leaning towards the smoldering logs,
That that love, like a spark, was carried away
And sank among the night lights.

Yeats's white birds in the paintings of his brother Jack Butler Yeats
White birds
Why are we not white birds above the foamy swell of the sea!
The meteor has not yet gone out, and we are already languishing in melancholy;
And the flame of a blue star that illuminated the empty sky,
My love, things are crucified with sadness in your eternal eyes.
Fatigue comes from these pampered lilies and roses;
The instantaneous fire of a meteor is not worth, my love, tears;
And the blue star’s flame will dissolve in the darkness like smoke:
Let's turn into white birds and fly away into the dark expanse.
I know: there is an island beyond the sea, a magical lost shore,
Where Time will forget about us and Sadness will never find us;
Let's forget, my dear, about the stars that tear up our eyes,
And like white birds we’ll fly into the wave-shaking expanse.
Translation by Grigory Kruzhkov

Yeats's famous artist brother
“..if a person loves with noble love, he knows love through pity that knows no satisfaction, and trust that knows no words, and sympathy that knows no end; if his love is low, then it is given to him to know it in the fury of jealousy, the suddenness of hatred and the inescapability of desire...”

Yeats's early years

“Lord, button up my soul”

Yeats William Butler was born on June 13, 1865 on the outskirts of Dublin into a prosperous family. On his mother's side, his ancestors were sailors, and his paternal grandfather was a priest. The mother is the daughter of a merchant, the father received a law degree, but soon after the birth of his son he left with his family to London to study painting, which he always gravitated towards. He became a fairly famous portrait artist, a member of the Royal Irish Academy. One of his famous works is of his son, William Yeats, reading a book.

John Duncan "March of the Seeds"

“….Hurry, hurry!
Throw mortal dreams out of your heart,
Leaves are spinning, horses are flying,
The wind blows my hair back,
Fiery eyes, pale faces.
The phantom gallop is furious,
Whoever saw us disappeared forever:
He will forget what he dreamed of,
He will forget everything about how he lived before..."

Yeats's first poems

"Responsibility begins in dreams"

Yeats's early poetry is very varied. These include Indian love songs, and an immersion in Irish folklore, Celtic legends, ballads, and lyrical poems. He "looked for the future in the past."
“His creations are a “flight to a magical land,” a search for “impossible, incredible beauty.” Images traditional for symbolist poetry are fused with the mythology, legends and fairy tales of Ireland. Key images of birds, waves, and wind are associated with characters from national mythology. The names of places, mysterious and “speaking”, referring to ancient beliefs, create an excited music of words, in which individual words do not seem to require isolation.”

...So much evil and sadness! I'll rebuild everything again -
And on a lonely hill I’ll lie down on a spring day,
So that the earth and sky become a golden box
For dreams of a beautiful rose blooming in my heart
translation by Grigory Kruzhkov

Mysticism in Yeats's works

Yeats's first love is the Poet's Muse.

She becomes his Muse, his great but unrequited love for many years.

“My love, oh my love, the woman who is to blame for the fact that I have become worthless, the woman whose evil is more valuable than any good from another woman. My treasure, oh my treasure, a woman with gray eyes, a woman in the crook of whose arm my head will never rest.
My love, oh my love, the woman with whom I am exhausted, the woman who will not sigh for me, the woman who will never erect a gravestone for me.
My secret love, oh my secret love, a woman who doesn’t say a word to me, a woman who forgets me as soon as I leave her.
My chosen one, oh my chosen one, a woman who does not look after me, a woman who will not make peace with me.
My desire, oh, my desire, a woman who is dearer under the sun, a woman who does not see me when I sit next to her.
The woman who crushed my heart, the woman for whom I sigh forever.”

As disappointment in love comes, disappointment in the political struggle comes.

"...That's what we're up to
We've become philosophical, that's what it's like
Our world is a tangle of fighting ferrets!”

3 years before his death he would write “communists, fascists, nationalists, clerics, anti-clericals - they should all be judged according to the number of their victims.”

The famous Yates Tower

In the spring of 1917, Yeats acquired his famous “tower”, his castle - Tour Ballyli, which for him was associated with a symbol of traditional values and spiritual development, and for his admirers it was and is a symbol of his later poetry. This small manor house with an abandoned Norman watchtower (the structure dates back to the 14th century) was bought for the ridiculous price of around £35. William Yates, who is already 52, decides to get married so that he can have heirs. He proposes to Maud Gonne again and is refused for the last time. Then he chooses a young 25-year-old Englishwoman, Georgie Hyde-Lees, whom he wants to bring to his family home. She agrees. Women have liked him all his life, except for the one he loved all his life.

Walter de la Mare, Bertha Georgie Yeats, William Butler Yeats, summer 1930; Photo by Lady Ottoline Morrell

Enter the steep stairs into the darkness,
Focus on the circular climb,
Reject all vain thoughts except
Blind aspirations to the heights of the stars,
To that black abyss above your head,
Where does the fragmented light flow from?
Through the ancient jagged loopholes.
How to differentiate between the soul and darkness?….

After the death of the poet, the Tower was abandoned, but by 1965, for Yeats's centenary, it was transformed and now houses the poet's museum - the Yeats Tower with a sign reading

There is no time, my friends.
There is eternity. And there is love.
I, the poet William Yeats
Revived the tower for my wife Georgia,
And along with the tower, a mill made of old boards and a sea-green roof,
A working forge for craftsmen from Gort.
All this will remain unchanged even then
When everything turns into ruins again.

Master's maturity

“Education is not filling a bucket with water, but lighting a fire.”

Yeats William Butler not only wrote poetry and plays, he created the Irish national theatre, the Abbey Theatre. He was one of the founders of the Irish Academy of Literature, took part in radio broadcasts, and edited the Oxford Anthology of Modern Poetry.
William Yeats's plays are not as popular as his poems, but every year they become more and more in demand among theater directors. Some of William Yeats Butler's plays have been called the best verse dramas of the last 100 years. Later works were intended mainly for display or reading before a select public, so they may not always be understandable. Their style becomes more complex, there are a lot of symbols and images, there is depth in every line, a lot of esotericism. And how well the author’s translator must feel in order to convey to us that music of words and secret meaning with which Yeats’s poems are so captivating. Unfortunately, I cannot read it in the original. Therefore, we have to be content with translations. But the translations are very, very different even in their essence. Below, I deliberately made a selection of the same poems, but in different readings. Choose those that are more consonant with you.

The great poet passed away on January 28, 1939. He was buried at the foot of his beloved Mount Benbulben. The gravestone inscription is lines from "Under Ben Bulben"

"Throw a cold look
For life, for death,
Rider, pass by."

A selection of Yeats' poems and quotes

To your heart, with a plea for courage.

Hush, heart, hush! calm fear;
Remember the wisdom of the ancient lesson:
One who fears waves and fire
And the winds humming along the starry roads,
Will be the will of the wind, waves and fire
Erased without a trace, because he is a stranger
To the lonely courage of being.

My favorite is the original. Yeats dedicated it to Maud Gonne

Had I the heavens’ embroidered cloths,
Inwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:

But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.

The poet dreams of heavenly silk

If only I could get silk from heaven,
Woven with a golden ray,
So that day, and shadow, and dawn from heaven
They cast it in blue and gold, -
I would spread it out for you to pass.
But all my wealth is in my dreams;
I spread the dream for you to pass,
Darling, carefully according to my dream.
translation by B. Rivkin

When you get old

Someday, an old gray-haired woman
You open a book, sit by the fire, -
My poems! - and you will remember about me,
And your gaze will flash, tender and alive.
You are your charm in the hearts of men
She gave birth to storms, light and darkness.
But who noticed the wanderer's dream
And the mournful face that opened for a moment?
The fireplace is hot, like a burnt-out bridge.
You will remember how Love left in tears
And she grieved high in the mountains,
Burying your face in a myriad of stars.
translation by Boris Rivkin

Another translation by Grigory Kruzhkov
To the tune of Ronsard

When you become old and gray,
Remember, dozing off by the fireplace,
Poems in which every line,
As of old, I am bitter with your beauty.

You've heard a lot throughout your life
Crazy vows, unbridled praises;
But only one loved and understood
Your wandering soul and melancholy.

And remembering the departed ardor,
Whisper, leaning towards the smoldering logs,
That that love, like a spark, was carried away
And sank among the night lights.

White birds

Why are we not white birds above the foamy swell of the sea!
The meteor has not yet gone out, and we are already languishing in melancholy;
And the flame of a blue star that illuminated the empty sky,
My love, things are crucified with sadness in your eternal eyes.

Fatigue comes from these pampered lilies and roses;
The instantaneous fire of a meteor is not worth, my love, tears;
And the blue star’s flame will dissolve in the darkness like smoke:
Let's turn into white birds and fly away into the dark expanse.

I know: there is an island beyond the sea, a magical lost shore,
Where Time will forget about us and Sadness will never find us;
Let's forget, my dear, about the stars that tear up our eyes,
And like white birds we’ll fly into the wave-shaking expanse.
Translation by Grigory Kruzhkov

“..if a person loves with noble love, he knows love through pity that knows no satisfaction, and trust that knows no words, and sympathy that knows no end; if his love is low, then it is given to him to know it in the fury of jealousy, the suddenness of hatred and the inescapability of desire ... "

YATES, WILLIAM BUTLER(Yeats, William Butler) (1865–1939), Irish poet, playwright, critic; activist of the national liberation movement. One of the greatest poets of the 20th century.

Born in Sandymount (a suburb of Dublin) on June 13, 1865. His father, John Butler Yeats (1839–1922), was a famous artist, a member of the Royal Irish Academy; mother is the daughter of a merchant from the port city of Sligo on the west coast of Ireland. In 1868, the Yeatses moved to London, where their youngest children were born - two sons and a daughter. There, young Yeats attended Godolphin School. Upon returning to Ireland in 1880, he continued his studies at the Erasmus Smith School in Dublin, and then at the Metropolitan Art School and Art College at the Royal Irish Academy. It was then that his interest in Eastern religions and the occult arose. Around 1886, Yeats completed his education, deciding to devote himself entirely to literary creativity.

Even before his next move to London in 1887, Yeats began to publish in Irish magazines. First publication appeared in the March 1885 issue of the Dublin University Magazine - Poems Fairy Song (Song of the Faeries) And Vote (Voices). Over the next year and a half, many of Yeats’s poetic works were published there and in The Irish Fireside. Dramatic poem Mossad (Mosada) in three scenes was published in 1886 as a separate book. In London, Yeats worked on compiling a collection of Irish folk tales, published in 1888 under the title Magical and folk tales of Irish peasants (Faery and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry), and over the first collection of poetry Oisin's Wanderings (The Wanderings of Oisin and Other Poems, 1889). His two-volume work was published in 1891 Exemplary Irish lore (Representative Irish Tales). In those same years, Yeats clearly showed himself in the cause of Irish national revival and participated in the creation of societies designed to popularize old and new Irish literature. He participated in patriotic endeavors and joined the revolutionary organization the Irish Literary Brotherhood (1896).

Yeats made friendly connections with many writers, including W. Morris, W. E. Henley, A. Simons, L. Johnson and E. Dawson; with some of them he created the “Poetry Club”. These writers published mainly in the magazines “Yellow Book” and “National Observer”, published by Henley. Released in 1893 Celtic Twilight (The Celtic Twilight) - Yeats's first book; in 1894 – The country desired by the heart (The Land of Heart's Desire), perhaps the most famous of his plays; in 1895 - collection Poems (Poems), which presents the best poetry, as well as early verse drama Countess Kathleen (The Countess Cathleen, 1892) and The country desired by the heart– both thoroughly redesigned. Release of a collection of short stories Secret rose (The Secret Rose) and selected esoteric essays The Ten Commandments and the Adoration of the Magi (The Tables of the Law and the Adoration of the Magi) marked the year 1897.

In 1897 the idea of creating an Irish national theater was born. Its founders - Yeats, E. Martin, Lady Augusta Gregory and J. Moore - played an important role in the revival of Irish art and literature, known as the Irish Renaissance. Performance based on Yeats's play Countess Kathleen On May 8, 1899, the Irish Literary Theater opened. In 1904 his company acquired the Dublin Abbey Theatre.

For the next ten years, Yeats devoted almost all of his time to the artistic direction of the Abbey Theatre, writing and directing plays on its stage. During these same years, he made a close acquaintance with the young American poet E. Pound, under whose influence Yeats's poetic style became even more clear and expressive. It was Pound who introduced his older comrade to the Japanese Noh theater and its stylized, symbol-filled drama.

On October 21, 1917, Yeats married an Englishwoman, Georgie Hyde-Lees, who shared his interest in the occult. On February 24, 1919, the writer had a daughter, Anne Butler, and on August 22, 1921, a son, William Michael.

In 1922, Yeats was elected senator of the Irish Free State; the following year he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. In 1928, Yates resigned from the Senate for health reasons and also because the Senate rejected his proposals to abolish censorship and allow divorce. Despite his age and ill health, Yates continued to work enthusiastically. He not only wrote a lot, but participated in the creation of the Irish Academy of Literature, made radio broadcasts and edited Oxford Anthology of Contemporary Poetry(1935). Yeats died in Cap Martin (French Riviera) on January 28, 1939.

Yeats's poetic work is usually divided into two or three periods, the boundaries of which vary. The first period falls on 1885–1910, the second – on 1910–1939. If there is a third period in the periodization, then it is limited to 1917–1939 or 1922–1939. After 1921, the poet's style did not undergo any significant changes.

In Yeats's early poetry, the influence of E. Spencer is felt; Romantic poets, especially P.B. Shelley; the Pre-Raphaelites, who for some time held him captive to their poetic dreams; and French Symbolists. Thematically, Yeats's poetry is also very varied: Indian love songs; Irish legends, folk tales and ballads and lyrical poems. Very demanding of his own creativity, Yeats often revised his poetic works. The texts underwent particularly thorough processing Poems 1895.

Changes in style appear already in the collection The wind in the reeds (The Wind Among the Reeds, 1899). In some poems there is an atmosphere of a dream, a shaky dream, nostalgia for the Celtic past is felt, but in the collection In seven forests (In the Seven Woods, 1903) wise and lyrical intonation prevailed, conveyed in fresh and simple language. IN Green helmet (The Green Helmet and Other poems, 1910), Liabilities (Responsibilities, 1914), Wild swans in Kula (The Wild Swans at Coole, 1917) Yeats acted as a mature master.

Much has been written about the complexity of Yeats's poetry since his 1925 treatise. Vision (A Vision) - a detailed explanation of the meaning of life, written under the influence of the trance states experienced by his wife-medium during seances and her experiments with “automatic writing”. It is believed that Yeats's poetry after 1925 can only be understood by understanding Visions with their complex figurative system. However, this opinion is only true for a few poems.

Yeats's plays have not received as wide recognition as his poetry, but their popularity among critics is growing every year. Most of his early plays, written mainly for the Abbey Theatre, are Countess Kathleen, The land desired by the heart, Kathleen, daughter of Julian (1902), Pot of Chowder (The Plot of Broth, 1902), On the royal threshold (The King's Threshold, 1903), Hourglass (The Hour Glass, 1903), On the shore of Baile (On Baile" Strand, 1904) and Deirdre(1906) – had a happy stage fate. Two of them Countess Kathleen(the legend of a beautiful aristocrat who sold her soul to save her people from starvation) and Deirdre(the story of an Irish beauty with the unfortunate fate of Helen of Troy), can easily be called one of the best poetic dramas of the last hundred years. Yeats's later plays, from Green helmet(1910) and ending By the death of Cuchulainn (The Death of Cuchulain, 1939), with few exceptions, were intended to be read or shown to a select audience, and understanding their content requires some effort. Exceptions include plays Queen Actress (The Player Queen, 1922), translations of the dramas of Sophocles Oedipus the King(1928) and Oedipus at Colonus(1934) and Words on the window glass (The Words Upon the Window Pane, 1930), performed with great success on the stage of the Abbey Theatre.

Yeats's prose contains several genre varieties: novellas, short stories, adaptations of Irish myths and legends, critical essays, autobiography, as well as a religious and philosophical treatise. Vision. Yeats excelled in almost all of these genres.

The composition of Yeats's later poems and plays is based on the opposition of body and soul, eternity and time, art and nature, the occult and the earthly, Gaelic Ireland and Ireland of the first half of the 20th century. The main stylistic difference between Yeats's early work and his later is the absence of conflict in the former.

The mature Yeats's taste for conflict is inextricably linked with his love of the theater. In order to awaken activity within himself and thus fulfill his life's purpose, a person plays a role, puts on a mask, and creates a personality in himself. According to Yeats, for the “I” to form, there must also be an “anti-I” that is different from the true essence. Otherwise, the mask becomes the person's true face.