Multi-Media
Historic Recordings: William Butler Yeats
Subject
English Language Arts (2005)
Historic Recordings
Click here to access the historic recording of William Butler Yeats as well as a brief biography of this author.
Description
William Butler Yeats (1865-1939) stands at the turning point between the Victorian period and Modernism, the conflicting currents of which affected his poetry. The Wanderings of Oisin and other poems showed concerns that were to remain central to his writing - Ireland, spiritualism and love. His earliest books draw on the romantics and pre-Raphaelite ideals and mythologies a 'Celtic Twilight'. However, increased involvement with nationalist politics was to have a significant impact on his poetic style: his diction grew plainer, the syntax tighter and the verse structures, while retaining their traditional form, more muscular. From this page, you can hear the voice of William Butler Yeats reading one of his poems, "The Lake Isle of Innisfree."
Content Provider
Poetry Archive exists to help make poetry accessible, relevant and enjoyable to a wide audience. It came into being as a result of a meeting, in a recording studio, between Andrew Motion, soon after he became U.K. Poet Laureate in 1999, and the recording producer, Richard Carrington. They agreed about how enjoyable and illuminating it is to hear poets reading their work and about how regrettable it was that, even in the recent past, many important poets had not been properly recorded.
Linking with Written Permission.
