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Quote by William Butler Yeats

“What portion in the world can the artist have, Who has awakened from the common dream, But dissipation and despair?”

Quote by William Butler Yeats

Book:The Collected Poems of W. B. Yeats

Work

The Collected Poems of W. B. Yeats

This volume includes a selection of W. B. Yeats' most celebrated poems, reflecting his engagement with Irish nationalism, the human condition, and the mystical. It is a testament to his influence on modern poetry and his exploration of themes such as love, death, and the supernatural. more

Author

William Butler Yeats

William Butler Yeats was an Irish poet, dramatist, and essayist, considered one of the greatest poets of the 20th century. His poetry deeply reflected the nationalist sentiments of Ireland and also showcased rich imagination and profound philosophical thinking. Yeats' poetic style was versatile, evolving from early romanticism to late symbolism, and his works have had a profound impact on literature both in Ireland and around the world. more

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“In the great cities we see so little of the world, we drift into our minority. In the little towns and villages there are no minorities; people are not numerous enough. You must see the world there, perforce. Every man is himself a class.”

People Men World Littles Enough Cities Class Towns Every Man Minorities Village Great Cities Little Towns Small Villages

Book:The Celtic Twilight

Source: The Celtic Twilight

“To sit beside the board and drink good wine And watch the turf smoke coiling from the fire And feel content and wisdom in your heart, This is the best of life; when we are young We long to tread a way none trod before, But find the excellent old way through love And through the care of children to the hour Forbidding Fate and Time and Change goodbye.”

Way Feels Heart Children Long Care Young Hours Watches Fire Fate Drink Wine Smoke Excellent Boards Goodbye Old Ways Good Wine Turf Time And Change

Book:When You Are Old: Early Poems, Plays, and Fairy Tales

Source: When You Are Old: Early Poems, Plays, and Fairy Tales

“No man, even though he be Shakespeare, can write perfectly when his web is woven of threads that have been spun in many lands.”

Men Writing Has Beens Land Thread Woven Spun

Book:The Collected Works of W.B. Yeats Volume IV: Early Essays

Source: The Collected Works of W.B. Yeats Volume IV: Early Essays

“If a powerful and benevolent spirit has shaped the destiny of this world, we can better discover that destiny from the words that have gathered up the heart's desire of the world, than from historical records, or from speculation, wherein the heart withers.”

Ifs World Heart Spirit Desire Powerful Destiny Records This World Historical Speculation Benevolent

Book:The Collected Works of W.B. Yeats Volume IV: Early Essays

Source: The Collected Works of W.B. Yeats Volume IV: Early Essays

“For those that love the world serve it in action, Grow rich, popular, and full of influence; And should they paint or write still is it action, The struggle of the fly in marmalade.”

World Should Writing Stills Action Grows Struggle Rich Influence Paint Marmalade

Book:Selected Poems And Four Plays

Source: Selected Poems And Four Plays

“God spreads the heavens above us like great wings, And gives a little round of deeds and days.”

Giving Littles Heaven Wings Rounds Deeds Spread

Book:The Collected Works of W.B. Yeats Vol II: The Plays

Source: The Collected Works of W.B. Yeats Vol II: The Plays

“Test every work of intellect or faith, And everything that your own hands have wrought And call those works extravagance of breath That are not suited for such men as come Proud, open-eyed and laughing to the tomb.”

Men Hands Laughing Proud Tests Breaths Intellect Tombs Extravagance

Book:Selected Poems And Four Plays

Source: Selected Poems And Four Plays

“When all is said and done, how do we know but that our own unreason may be better than another's truth? for it has been warmed on our hearths and in our souls, and is ready for the wild bees of truth to hive in it, and make their sweet honey.”

Knows May Has Beens Said Soul Done Ready Sweet Honey Bees Said And Done Hives Sweet Honey

Book:The Celtic Twilight

Source: The Celtic Twilight

“Longfellow has his popularity, in the main, because he tells his story or his idea so that one needs nothing but his verses to understand it.”

Needs Ideas Stories Verses Popularity

Book:The Collected Works of W.B. Yeats Volume IV: Early Essays

Source: The Collected Works of W.B. Yeats Volume IV: Early Essays

“Had there been no Renaissance and no Italian influence to bring in the stories of other lands English history would, it may be, have become as important to the English imagination as the Greek Myths to the Greek imagination; and many plays by many poets would have woven it into a single story whose contours, vast as those of Greek myth, would have made living men and women seem like swallows building their nests under the architrave of some Temple of the Giants.”

Source: The Collected Works of W.B. Yeats Volume IV: Early Essays