Poems of W.B. Yeats (Wordsworth Poetry Library)

Most of W. B. Yeats works were included in this anthology. I liked that the poems were presented in date sequence, oldest first. I could appreciate his change in style and theme as he grew older. I would have liked more in depth footnoting, as many of his poem referred to obscure Irish myths and fairytales, contemporary Irish events, classic works and Classic Mythology.

no need to comment..Love the author ever since school

A very large book with Yeats' work. Very easy to read with clear type.

This volume has Yeats's complete poems, which is a real plus. But unlike Rosenthal's selection it has no notes or commentary, something which an ordinary reader truly needs in order to understand some of Yeats's more obscure references.

Pretty

I love Walt Whitman's poems and this is an excellent collection of his. Highly recommend.

The nice thing about the internet is that a person can get many books and poems from the archives. Yeats is no exception to this truism, but I believe this paperback edition is worth the small printing cost.Yeats is a curiosity. His poems give a window into the mind of Irish gentry, not necessarily inimical to the native peasantry, but only distantly engaged. He gently enlightens the reader on the benign ambivalence of the ruling class toward the peasantry. Sometimes one gets the idea he understands the people and situations of the countryside but sometimes it as if they were bugs under his microscope. He observes and writes without actually feeling the pathos. He is kind but analytical, warmer towards those of his own class who are sprinkled here and there throughout the book.For a poet more enmeshed in his surroundings I’d choose Frost any day; Yeats is mystically wrapped in his own head so the surroundings become a backdrop. A worthy read if one understands that the Irish world is only partially on this plane and much of his work is a long goodby as he departs from hat magic.

The Collected Poems of W. B. Yeats is a collection that at times lifted my spirits, at times frustrated me, and at times saddened me. Yeats is sometimes clear and straightforward in his writing and other times oblique. I read a few poems each night and sometimes found myself rereading one or the other either because I loved the wording or because the wording felt awkward to me. The poems sometimes reminded me that writing done in a time and place is tied to that time and place and might not always hold up over time. Many of Yeats poems still hold meaning and are even transcendent of time and place but not all. And that's okay. The Collected Poems of W. B. Yeats tells a story of the connections and detachments we experience in life through language that manages to be both lyrical and grounded.