William Butler Yeats and William Blake :: Poetry Literature Papers

William Butler Yeats and William BlakeA study of William Butler Yeats is not issue without a study of William Blake, just as a study of Blake is greatly aided by a study of Yeats. The two poets are inexorably tied together. Yeats, aided by his study of Blake, was able to find a clearer poetical voice. Yeats had a respect for and an understanding of Blakes work that was in Yeats while without parallel. Yeats first read Blake at the age of 15 or 16 when his father gave him Blake to read. Yeats writes in his essay William Blake and the Imagination that ...when one reads Blake, it is as though the spray of an inexhaustible fountain of beauty was blown into our faces (Yeats, Essays xxx). Yeats believed Blake to be a genius and he never wavered in his opinion. It is his respect for Blake that caused him to study and emulate Blake. He tried to tie Blake closer to himself by stressing Blakes ru muchd Irish ancestry. He strove to understand Blake more(prenominal) clearly than anyone had b efore him, and he succeeded. As with separate pursuits Yeats held nothing back. He immersed himself fully in Blakes writings. As with many of his intellectual pursuits he deepened his understanding of the subject by writing about it. In 1887 he wrote his essay William Blake and the Imagination. This essay articulated his thoughts on the genius of the poet William Blake. He still however had not conceived his full vision of Blakes works. In 1889 he approached Edwin Ellis, a friend of his fathers, for assistance in understanding Blake. Ellis wrote of this meeting precise little could be given him to satisfy so large a demand, but with his eye for symbolic systems, he needed no more to enable him to perceive that here was a myth as good worth studying as any that has been offered to the world (Ellis, Vol I ix). thus began Yeats and Ellis collaboration on William Blake. This collaboration came to fruition, after four years of work, with the 1893 return of their The Works of Willia m Blake Poetic, Symbolic, and Critical. It has been acknowledged by many scholars that Yeats study of Blake greatly influenced his poetic expression. This gives rise to the widely held assertion that Yeats is indebted to Blake. While I halt with this assertion, I feel that the perhaps greater debt is Blakes.William Butler Yeats and William Blake Poetry writings PapersWilliam Butler Yeats and William BlakeA study of William Butler Yeats is not sodding(a) without a study of William Blake, just as a study of Blake is greatly aided by a study of Yeats. The two poets are inexorably tied together. Yeats, aided by his study of Blake, was able to find a clearer poetic voice. Yeats had a respect for and an understanding of Blakes work that was in Yeats cartridge clip without parallel. Yeats first read Blake at the age of 15 or 16 when his father gave him Blake to read. Yeats writes in his essay William Blake and the Imagination that ...when one reads Blake, it is as though the spray o f an inexhaustible fountain of beauty was blown into our faces (Yeats, Essays xxx). Yeats believed Blake to be a genius and he never wavered in his opinion. It is his respect for Blake that caused him to study and emulate Blake. He tried to tie Blake closer to himself by stressing Blakes rumored Irish ancestry. He strove to understand Blake more clearly than anyone had before him, and he succeeded. As with another(prenominal) pursuits Yeats held nothing back. He immersed himself fully in Blakes writings. As with many of his noetic pursuits he deepened his understanding of the subject by writing about it. In 1887 he wrote his essay William Blake and the Imagination. This essay articulated his thoughts on the genius of the poet William Blake. He still however had not conceived his full vision of Blakes works. In 1889 he approached Edwin Ellis, a friend of his fathers, for assistance in understanding Blake. Ellis wrote of this meeting actually little could be given him to satisfy so large a demand, but with his eye for symbolic systems, he needed no more to enable him to perceive that here was a myth as head worth studying as any that has been offered to the world (Ellis, Vol I ix). indeed began Yeats and Ellis collaboration on William Blake. This collaboration came to fruition, after four years of work, with the 1893 outcome of their The Works of William Blake Poetic, Symbolic, and Critical. It has been acknowledged by many scholars that Yeats study of Blake greatly influenced his poetic expression. This gives rise to the widely held assertion that Yeats is indebted to Blake. While I keep back with this assertion, I feel that the perhaps greater debt is Blakes.