Responsibilities and Other Poems

By W B Yeats

"Responsibilities and Other Poems" by W.B. Yeats presents a poetic tapestry reflecting the shifting landscapes of personal and collective consciousness. Yeats, a master of symbolism, explores themes of love, mysticism, and the passage of time. In this collection, he contemplates the complexities of human relationships, delving into the emotional intricacies of love and the profound impact of historical and political events. With rich and nuanced verses, Yeats invites readers on a journey through the realms of the spiritual and the temporal, intertwining personal reflections with broader societal concerns. Each poem unfolds as a lyrical meditation on the multifaceted nature of existence, offering readers a glimpse into the poet's introspective and visionary world.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Interactive Media
• Release date: Jan 17, 2019
• ISBN: 9781787360013

W B Yeats

William Butler Yeats was born in 1865 in County Dublin. With his much-loved early poems such as 'The Stolen Child', and 'He Remembers Forgotten Beauty', he defined the Celtic Twilight mood of the late-Victorian period and led the Irish Literary Renaissance. Yet his style evolved constantly, and he is acknowledged as a major figure in literary modernism and twentieth-century European letters. T. S. Eliot described him as 'one of those few whose history is the history of their own time, who are part of the consciousness of an age which cannot be understood without them'. W. B. Yeats died in 1939.

Book preview

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W. B. Yeats

Responsibilities

and Other Poems

Published by Sovereign

This edition first published in 2019

Copyright © 2019 Sovereign

All Rights Reserved

ISBN: 9781787360013

Contents

RESPONSIBILITIES

THE GREY ROCK

THE TWO KINGS

TO A WEALTHY MAN WHO PROMISED A SECOND SUBSCRIPTION TO THE DUBLIN MUNICIPAL GALLERY IF IT WERE PROVED THE PEOPLE WANTED PICTURES

SEPTEMBER 1913

TO A FRIEND WHOSE WORK HAS COME TO NOTHING

PAUDEEN

TO A SHADE

WHEN HELEN LIVED

THE ATTACK ON ‘THE PLAYBOY OF THE WESTERN WORLD,’ 1907

THE THREE BEGGARS

THE THREE HERMITS

BEGGAR TO BEGGAR CRIED

THE WELL AND THE TREE

RUNNING TO PARADISE

THE HOUR BEFORE DAWN

THE PLAYER QUEEN

THE REALISTS

THE WITCH I

THE PEACOCK II

THE MOUNTAIN TOMB

TO A CHILD DANCING IN THE WIND

A MEMORY OF YOUTH

FALLEN MAJESTY

FRIENDS

THE COLD HEAVEN

AN APPOINTMENT

THE MAGI I

THE DOLLS II

A COAT

RESPONSIBILITIES

‘In dreams begins responsibility.’

Old Play.

‘How am I fallen from myself, for a long time now

I have not seen the Prince of Chang in my dreams.’

Khoung-fou-tseu.

Pardon, old fathers, if you still remain

Somewhere in ear-shot for the story’s end,

Old Dublin merchant ‘free of ten and four’

Or trading out of Galway into Spain;

And country scholar, Robert Emmet’s friend,

A hundred-year-old memory to the poor;

Traders or soldiers who have left me blood

That has not passed through any huxter’s loin,

Pardon, and you that did not weigh the cost,

Old Butlers when you took to horse and stood

Beside the brackish waters of the Boyne

Till your bad master blenched and all was lost;

You merchant skipper that leaped overboard

After a ragged hat in Biscay Bay,

You most of all, silent and fierce old man

Because you were the spectacle that stirred

My fancy, and set my boyish lips to say

‘Only the wasteful virtues earn the sun’;

Pardon that for a barren passion’s sake,

Although I have come close on forty-nine

I have no child, I have nothing but a book,

Nothing but that

Reviews for Responsibilities and Other Poems

[baswood · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This collection opened my eyes to the poetry of W B Yeats. I was familiar with the more famous poems for example “An Irish Airman forces his death”, “Easter 1916” “The Lake Isle of Innisfree” and “Leda and the Swan’, but previously when I had dipped into a collection of his early poems I was confused by the many references to Irish Myth and Folklore and soon found myself cast adrift. Therefore I approached this collection with some trepidation and the first two poems “The Grey Rock" and "The Two Kings" did not ease my fears as they are both steeped in old mystical Ireland, however in The Grey rock Yeats addresses his fellow poets with “Here is a story that I have remade” and so the reader has a handle on a story in verse of Kings, phantoms, the old gods, battles and love and it is a good yarn. The fifth poem ‘September 1913” seemed to mark a sea change in the poets thoughts. The poet is disillusioned with the present situation in Ireland, but he is also questioning the romantic notions of the past, because he realises there is no going back to a golden age. A refrain closes the first three stanzas”“Romantic Ireland’s dead and gone,Its with O’Leary in the grave”While in the final stanza that speaks of the pain of the Irish heroes and exiles (Robert Emmet, Edward Fitzgerald and Wolfe Tone) the refrain that closes the poem pushes the disillusionment further into almost despair:“But let them be they’re dead and gone,They’re with O’Leary in the grave.From here on in, the collection becomes more realist in thought, although there is still some imagery from a more mystical past. There soon follows a run of brilliant poems that demonstrate both fine feelings and a mastery of form and style. Yeats was hailed as a modernist poet because his themes tied in with the modernist movement, but he did not share the fashion for blank verse. In this collection of poems there is only one that is in blank verse all the rest have regular rhyming schemes, so much so that you know you are reading a poem. Yeats was not without a sense of humour and he could tell a good story, however apart from the first two poems there are no rambling mini epics, in fact many of the poems are quite short. There are still poems in this collection that are a puzzle, none more so than ‘Running to Paradise”, but the imagery and sound of the poem is so good that it is a puzzle that is a joy to read. There is a song quality to some of the poems and he will often use repeated couplets to enhance this feeling. Yeats’ on/off love affair with his muse Maud Gone caused him much anguish and this comes spilling out in a small collection of poems originally published under the title: The Green Helmet. There were just eight poems in the original slim volume and here they are included with others written between 1909-1912, when Yeats was heavily involved in the Abbey theatre. There is passion, loss, reconciliation and finally an acceptance in the eight poem collection, but there is also references to ‘sweet death’ that becomes unsettling. The additional poems do not match the intensity of feeling but there is still plenty of enjoyment to be had from most of them.The book also includes a short one act play “The Hour Glass” from 1912.The collection Responsibilities was published in 1914, but the collection I read which includes the Green Helmet poems was published in 1916. I think there are poems in this collection that everyone could enjoy and some of them are great poems, poems that will stay in your head and poems that you will want to come back to. This is a five star collection (and it’s free on the net)