Author Description

This new edition of The Collected Poems of W.B. Yeats includes all of the poems authorised for publication by Yeats in his lifetime. From skilful retellings of ancient Irish myths and legends to passionate meditations on the demands and rewards of youth and old age, these exquisite, occasionally whimsical songs of love, nature and art stand in dramatic contrast to the sombre and angry poems of life in a nation torn by war and uprising. In the rich and recurrent imagery of the rose, the gyre and the tower the reader can trace Yeats's quest to unite intellect and artistry in a single compelling vision. Included in this edition are Yeats's notes complemented by explanatory notes from the esteemed Yeats scholar Richard J. Finneran.