Literature
The Poetry of W.B. Yeats: later poems, 1919-1939
An improver-level course examining Yeats’s later poetry through literary, political, cultural and biographical contexts, with tutor presentations and group discussion.
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Upcoming classes
1 class
About this course
The course follows Yeats’s poetry from 1915 to 1939, focusing on his final seven collections and poems including “The Second Coming”, “Sailing to Byzantium” and “Among Schoolchildren”. It considers his responses to Irish politics, nationalism, mythology, mysticism, family life, ageing and modernist writing, alongside debates about aesthetics and cultural identity. Sessions combine tutor presentation with small-group and whole-class discussion of selected poems. Close study introduces concepts including intertextuality, intratextuality, literary tradition, palimpsest, self-reflexivity, scansion and versification.
What you'll learn
- Analyse how Yeats uses varied poetic forms to represent individual and collective experience.
- Identify ways Yeats experimented with poetic form across his later career.
- Discuss the influence of folklore, politics, national identity, Romantic writing and aestheticism on his poetry.
- Apply concepts including intertextuality, literary tradition, scansion and versification when studying selected poems.
Is this course right for you?
The course is intended for learners with an interest in Yeats and some familiarity with poetry study, although previous experience is described as useful rather than required. Sessions involve listening to different interpretations and contributing to small-group and whole-class discussions. Familiarity with the poems is helpful but not essential.
- Some experience of studying poetry would be useful, but is not stated as a requirement.
- Learners should be open to different approaches to interpreting poetry.
- Key poems are provided in advance, so prior familiarity with the texts is not essential.
Before you go
- Key poems will be provided in advance of the course.