![]() ![]() wrote in Introduction to The Celtic Twilight 1893 edition,Ī characteristic trait throughout his life was continuously editing and re-revising his earlier work and republishing it. All four Yeats siblings were closest to their Uncle George Pollexfen, with whom they stayed, as individuals, from the late 1880s until his death in 1910. He shared a common interest in astrology and the occult with his uncle George and these were central themes in Yeats’s writing. Mary Battle, housekeeper of his uncle George Pollexfen, told him of the habits and customs relating to unexplained phenomena, and imbued Yeats with her belief in the existence of spirits in other dimensions. He drew on the tales recounted to him by local people in Sligo, Rosses Point and Ballysadare. Yeats published The Celtic Twilight, a volume of folktales and poems, in 1893, which underlines his growing interest in ‘faery stories and customs’. ![]() He believed that a return to traditional values, based on heritage, history and folklore was central to shaping our Irish identity. He disagreed with the premise that Irish freedom should be achieved through armed insurgency. This is despite his own foray into political nationalism. write plays about important historical figures – he focused on mythological figures like Oisín, Diarmuid and Gráinne, Queen Maeve and Cuchulain, from ‘Ireland’s heroic past greatness’, and wrote six plays on Cuchulain.įollowing the death of the great Irish Parliamentarian Charles Stewart Parnell in 1891, the rise in military nationalism was at odds with Yeats’s views of Irish identity. He made a resolution about this time, to do for Ireland what Shakespeare did for England, i.e. ![]() The long title poem was an expression of Yeats’s fascination with Irish mythology, themes he explored in much of his earlier work and which he returned to later in life. His early writings include The Wanderings of Oisin and Other Poems (1889), which gave notice that a young poet of some promise was in the making. ![]() and friends founded The Irish Literary Society in 1891. 3, Blenheim Road, Bedford Park, where the family remained until returning to Dublin in 1902. As he grew acquainted with other writers and artists, he took up the life of a professional writer, moving back to London with his family in 1887. He had his first works published in Dublin University Review, while he was a student at the Metropolitan School of Art. Jack remained in Sligo with his grandparents from 1879-1887 and developed his passion for painting at Rosses Point, spending long Summer days staying at Moyle Lodge, visiting cousins at Bowmore Lodge and Elsinore Lodge.Īfter the family returned to live in Dublin in 1881, W.B. returned to London, where he went to school. His mother told him stories from her youth and his father, very much a free spirit, encouraged creative thought and freedom. And while it is evident from early on that W.B.’s parents were very different people and largely incompatible, they did engender in him his love of stories and writing. And while this was a time of joy and growth for the young family, it was also a time of great sadness, following the death of Bobbie from croup in 1873 and Gracie in 1876.ĭuring this time, their father John largely stayed in London, living a bohemian life as an artist, while Susan brought the children up in the more conservative and strict environment of the Pollexfen household in Sligo. For W.B., the landscape was central to his writing, Jack drew on the rolling waves and seafarers, the circus and horse racing which formed the core of his paintings. Sligo’s landscape, culture and folklore became formative influences on both W.B. This set the seeds that would last a lifetime. The longest stay was July 1872 until October 1874. The annual summer holiday in Sligo was sometimes extended out of necessity, and at least once until Christmas. She fell back on support from her family in Sligo. Financial challenges were a constant feature, causing untold stress on Susan. was two, his father John decided to quit the bar and their comfortable life in Dublin and take up the uncertain life of an artist in London. ![]()
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