Four Years

Yeats, W. B. (William Butler), 1865-1939Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

4.0

Word count: 120K words
Chapters: 12

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Four Years by W. B. YeatsAuthor: Yeats, W. B. (William Butler), 1865-1939,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Nov 1, 2004

Editor's review

Four Years is a prose work by the Irish poet William Butler Yeats, recalling several years of his life and creative experience, released as a public-domain ebook by Project Gutenberg. Yeats observes people and events with a poet's sensitivity and a symbolist eye; his writing is concise and rich in imagery, carrying both the warmth of personal memory and a reflection of the literary and artistic circles of the time. The book is short but suited to slow, careful reading: readers can appreciate how Yeats transforms everyday experience into symbolic narrative and understand the lived soil behind his poetry. For those studying Yeats or Irish literature, it is supplementary material that allows easy searching of the original text; for general readers, it is more like a side door into a great poet's inner world. When reading, pay attention to recurring images and figures; do not rush, advance slowly chapter by chapter, and consult a chronology of Yeats's life if needed.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who love Yeats's poetry and want to know his prose writing
Readers studying Irish literature and twentieth-century literary circles
Literature lovers who prefer lyrical prose and are willing to read slowly and carefully
College students who need public-domain English texts for comparative reading

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting a complete autobiography or detailed biographical chronicle
General readers who prefer fast-paced plots and strong storytelling
Readers with little English reading experience who hope for a Chinese translation

Reading tips

Learn the outline of Yeats's life first; then the people and events in the book are easier to grasp.
Read slowly chapter by chapter; mark images and revisit their recurrences after finishing.
Read alongside Yeats's poems to appreciate how prose narrative echoes poetic imagery.
English learners can first read through for the main idea, then check key words and historical background on a second pass.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is Four Years poetry or prose by Yeats?

From the classification in the materials, the book is a prose work by Yeats, not a poetry collection. It has a memoir and essay character, while the language retains the poet's concision and imagery. Readers expecting poetry may find the narrative looser, but they can also see more of the life experience behind the poems.

Can I read this book without having read Yeats's poetry?

Yes, but knowing Yeats's life and creative phases beforehand will make it more rewarding. The book involves figures and literary-circle background; if these are entirely unfamiliar, some references may be missed. It is advisable to read a few representative Yeats poems or a brief chronology before starting, for smoother understanding.

Is the Gutenberg edition suitable for academic citation?

The Gutenberg edition provides a free public-domain electronic text, convenient for searching and checking, suitable as reading and preliminary research material. For academic citation, however, attention should be paid to edition information and page numbers; authoritative print or scholarly editions are preferable, while the electronic text can be used for quick location and verification of the original.

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About the author

Yeats, W. B. (William Butler), 1865-1939 Author

William Butler Yeats (1865–1939) was an Irish poet and playwright and a major figure in twentieth-century English-language literature. The collection holds thirty-eight of his works, including poetry collections, prose and plays, among them Responsibilities, and other poems, The Wind Among the Reeds, The Wild Swans at Coole, The Celtic Twilight, The Trembling of the Veil, and the multi-volume The Collected Works in Verse and Prose of William Butler Yeats. His verse is concise and musical, often drawing on Irish myth, folklore and Celtic culture, and blending symbolism and reflection with the lyric tradition; his style moved from an early romantic and aesthetic manner toward a later, firmer and more austere voice. His writing is closely associated with the Irish literary revival and has deeply influenced modern English poetry. Public information is limited, and this introduction is based mainly on the works held in the collection.