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The Poetry of W. B. Yeats

1. Introduction

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About this Lecture

Lecture

In this module, we think about some of the key preoccupations in Yeats' life and poetry: his passion for Ireland, his obsession with Maud Gonne, and his interest in the occult. In particular, we think about his engagement with the concepts of opposition and balance, especially in the poem 'An Irish Airman Foresees his Death'.

Course

In this course, Dr Peter Howarth (Queen Mary, University of London) explores the poetry of W. B. Yeats through six key poems: 'An Irish Airman Foresees his Death', 'Easter, 1916', 'Leda and the Swan', 'No Second Troy', 'The Cold Heaven', and 'Sailing to Byzantium'. As we move through the course, we think about why Yeats wrote the poetry he did – looking in particular at his passion for Ireland, his obsession with Maud Gonne, and his interest in philosophy and the occult.

Lecturer

Dr Peter Howarth came to Queen Mary in 2007, after lecturing at the University of Nottingham (2000-2007) and completing a PhD at Cambridge in 2000. His first book, British Poetry in the Age of Modernism (CUP, 2006) explored the poetics of non-modernism in the twentieth century, and his teaching and writing have continued to explore the relation of form, social setting and historical time ever since.

Cite this Lecture

APA style

Howarth, P. (2018, August 15). The Poetry of W. B. Yeats - Introduction [Video]. MASSOLIT. https://www.massolit.io/courses/the-poetry-of-w-b-yeats/introduction-f7c7bda6-b2b7-48bb-bbea-19c18282b49b

MLA style

Howarth, P. "The Poetry of W. B. Yeats – Introduction." MASSOLIT, uploaded by MASSOLIT, 15 Aug 2018, https://www.massolit.io/courses/the-poetry-of-w-b-yeats/introduction-f7c7bda6-b2b7-48bb-bbea-19c18282b49b

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