William Butler Yeats (1865–1939) Easter 1916, Leda and the Swan, Sailing to Byzantium LINKS Yeats Society of New York Home Page http://www.panix.com/~wlinden/yeats.shtml In addition to a calendar of the society's events, this site has many useful links, including a list of papers and studies available on the internet. William Butler Yeats: Poems, 1899 - 1919 http://www.columbia.edu/acis/bartleby/yeats/ Part of the Bartleby Archive created and maintained at Columbia University, this site contains the text of three volumes of poetry, The Wind Among the Reeds (1899), Responsibilities and Other Poems (1916), and The Wild Swans at Coole (1919). The Academy of American Poets - Poetry Exhibits: W.B. Yeats http://www.poets.org/lit/POET/wbyeats.htm This site contains a brief biography of Yeats, a selected bibliography, the texts of several of his poems, and a list of links. W.B. Yeats, "Easter 1916" http://www.theatlantic.com/atlantic/atlweb/poetry/soundings/yeats.htm This site from The Atlantic Unbound contains an essay on "Easter 1916" by David Barber as well as the text of the poem and three different readings of it by other poets. BIOGRAPHY William Butler Yeats (1865–1939) Yeats was born in Ireland and educated in both Ireland and London. Much of his poetry and many of his plays reflect his fascination with the history of Ireland, particularly the myths and legends of its ancient, pagan past, as well as his interest in the occult. As Yeats matured, he turned increasingly to contemporary subjects, expressing his nationalism in poems about the Irish struggle for independence from England. In 1891, he became one of the founders of an Irish literary society in London (the Rhymers' Club) and of another in Dublin the following year. Already a recognized poet, Yeats helped to establish the Irish National Theater in 1899; its first production was his play The Countess Cathleen (written in 1892). His contribution to Irish cultural and political nationalism led to his appointment as a senator when the Irish Free State was formed in 1922. Yeats's preeminence as a poet was recognized in 1923, when he received the Nobel Prize for literature. Among his works are The Wanderings of Oisin and Other Poems (1889), The Wind among the Reeds (1899), The Green Helmet and Other Poems (1910), Responsibilities: Poems and a Play (1914), The Tower (1928), and Last Poems and Two Plays (1939).