The Collected Works in Verse and Prose of William Butler Yeats, Vol. 2

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

Rating 4.2

Word count: 211K words
Chapters: 22

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. The Collected Works in Verse and Prose of William Butler Yeats, Vol. 2 (of 8) Author: Yeats, W. B. (William Butler), 1865-1939 Language: English Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature Release Date: Aug 5, 2015

Editor's review

This is Volume 2 of the eight-volume collected works of Yeats, likewise offered by Project Gutenberg as a public-domain ebook in the original English, without translation or annotation. As an early volume in the set, it invites comparison with Volume 4: readers can observe how Yeats's energies shifted between poetry and prose at different stages, and how the early editors organized the material. For scholars, such historical editions are useful for checking attribution and comparing the scope of collected editions from different periods; for general readers, the barrier is language and background knowledge, and the lack of an introduction can make entry difficult. A practical approach is to treat it as a reference book rather than casual reading: first survey the table of contents to map the contents, then read closely the sections relevant to your research or interests, consulting annotated editions or scholarly works when encountering mythological, folkloric, and Irish historical allusions. If you are reading Yeats systematically, alternate this volume with Volume 4 to gain an overall sense of the structure of the collected works; if you only dip into poetry occasionally, a selected edition will serve you better.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Yeats scholars who need to compare contents and generic distribution across volumes
Students of English literature doing exercises on edition and arrangement of collected works
Poetry lovers with strong English reading ability willing to read the complete works in the original
Readers collecting public-domain ebooks who wish to complete the eight-volume set

Not a good fit for

English beginners who need Chinese translation and detailed annotation
Readers who want only a few famous pieces and light reading
Beginners who expect an introduction and background explanation

Reading tips

First read through the table of contents and classify the pieces, then decide the order of close reading, avoiding spreading effort evenly from start to finish.
Read pieces of the same genre alongside Volume 4, noting differences in arrangement and your own reading responses.
For densely allusive pieces, look up the background before reading the text to reduce interruptions.
Set a pace of a few pieces each week and write brief summaries afterward to consolidate understanding.

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

Will the contents of Volume 2 and Volume 4 overlap?

The two volumes are different parts of the same eight-volume set, arranged according to the source text, and generally have distinct roles, but the exact contents should be checked against the tables of contents. It is advisable to review both tables of contents before deciding the reading order.

Can I understand this book without annotations?

Readers with good English reading ability and familiarity with Irish literary background can basically understand it, but allusions and historical-cultural references still require verification. Beginners are best advised to read alongside annotated editions or scholarly materials.

Can this book be used for academic citation?

It can serve as a reference for understanding the arrangement of the early collected works, but the Project Gutenberg electronic text is not a scholarly critical edition; before formal citation, check authoritative editions and note the source text and volume relied upon.

Do I need to read a Yeats biography before reading the collected works?

A full biography is not necessary, but understanding Yeats's life and the basic outline of the Irish Literary Revival will help in grasping the themes and positions in his works. A brief author chronology can be read before entering the text.

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

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.