4. William Butler Yeats

Modern Poetry (ENGL 310) with Langdon Hammer

The early poetry of William Butler Yeats is read and interpreted with particular attention paid to Yeats's ambitions as a specifically Irish poet. Yeats's commitment to a poetry of symbol is explored in "The Song of the Wandering Aengus," a fable of poetic vocation. "A Coat," composed at the end of Yeats's struggle to bring about an Irish national theater, shows the poet reconceiving his style and in search of a new audience. "The Fisherman" is read as a revision of "The Song of the Wandering Aengus" which reflects this new set of concerns.

00:00 - Chapter 1. Introduction: William Butler Yeats
06:28 - Chapter 2. W. B. Yeats and King Goll
14:41 - Chapter 3. W. B. Yeats Poem: "The Song of the Wandering Aengus"
27:01 - Chapter 4. W. B. Yeats Poem: "A Coat"
32:45 - Chapter 5. W. B. Yeats Poem: "The Fisherman"

Complete course materials are available at the Open Yale Courses website: http://oyc.yale.edu

This course was recorded in Spring 2007.