Spotlight: Simply Yeats
Posted October 25th, 2007 by admin“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 above is a quote from William Butler Yeats, a Nobel Prize winning poet and dramatist. Yeats was born in 1865 and studied in London. From an early age, he was interested in both Irish legends and the occult, which showed up in the early phases of his work. Yeats earliest volume of poetry was published in 1887, displaying heavy influence by Percy Bysshe Shelley and Edmund Spenser.
Yeats was profoundly interested in Irish myth and supernatural experiences—so much so that he was a member of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, an occult group which combined themes of Christianity with those of medieval Kabbalah, Theosophy, magic practices, and ancient pre-Christian religions. He was an active recruiter for the Golden Dawn, bringing in his uncle George Pollexfen, Maud Gonne, and Florence Farr.
Yeats held an unrequited love for Maud Gonne and after many years of pining for her, she married someone else (oh, the horror!). Yeats went on to marry George Hyde-Lees, a woman he had met through his occult circles. Despite a 27-year age difference, the marriage was a success and produced two children, Anne and Michael. Not only was the marriage itself a success, Yeats and George worked together on his works, engaging in a form of automatic writing. This involved George contacting various spirits and guides who then, in turn, communicated back characters and history during trances. Wow!
Yeats is definitely a fascinating historical icon. There is a wealth of information left to be studied, i.e., his poetry, more information on his occult involvement, and some very interesting notes to some of his poems (available in free downloads). Hop over to Simply Yeats and read about one very captivating poet!
Happy learning!
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