Anthology of poetry, drama, and prose by William Butler Yeats, regarded as Ireland's greatest poet, living or dead, and one of the most important literary figures of the 20th century, and who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1923.

I have enjoyed the poetry of William Butler Yeats for many years as evidenced by my well-worn copy of his Complete Poems. But there is more to enjoy when considering this protean author for throughout his long life, William Butler Yeats produced important works in every literary genre, works of astonishing range, energy, erudition, beauty, and skill. His early poetry is memorable and moving. His poems and plays of middle age address the human condition with language that has entered our vocabulary for cataclysmic personal and world events.

"O body swayed to music, O brightening glance,

How can we know the dancer from the dance?"

("Among School Children", p 105)

The writings of his final years offer wisdom, courage, humor, and sheer technical virtuosity. T. S. Eliot pronounced Yeats "the greatest poet of our time -- certainly the greatest in this language, and so far as I am able to judge, in any language" and "one of the few whose history is the history of their own time, who are a part of the consciousness of an age which cannot be understood without them."

The Yeats Reader is a comprehensive single volume that demonstrates the full range of Yeats's talents. It presents more than one hundred and fifty of his best-known poems plus eight plays, a sampling of his prose tales, and excerpts from his published autobiographical and critical writings. In addition, an appendix offers six early texts of poems that Yeats later revised. Also included are selections from the memoirs left unpublished at his death and complete introductions written for a projected collection that never came to fruition. These are supplemented by unobtrusive annotation and a chronology of the life.

Yeats was a protean writer and thinker, and few writers so thoroughly reward a reader's efforts to essay the whole of their canon. This volume is an excellent place to begin that enterprise, to renew an old acquaintance with one of world literature's great voices, or to continue a lifelong interest in the phenomenon of literary genius. ( )

My first encounter with Yeats. In eighth grade, I sought him out, and specifically chose this edition because it appeared comprehensive and approachable. Six years later, I'm confident that I would make the same choice. It's been an inimitable companion, and a comfort.
This edition's greatest virtue is the breadth of Yeats' work it presents - his poetry, of course, but also his drama, prose and critical writings. The poetry section is respectable, and as far as I can tell rather traditional. Because this collects various genres, Yeats' poetry isn't presented very extensively. If you're a connoisseur of his poetry, there are other editions that would better serve you. As a new reader or one interested in his other works, you'll be pleased. His drama and critical works seem especially underrepresented in other editions, so this is especially valuable. The selections are comprehensive, engendering a sense of proficiency and familiarity with the author's work in less regarded media. ( )

Yes please. ( )