Mosada: A Dramatic Poem

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

3.4

Word count: 17K words
Chapters: 2

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.Mosada: A dramatic poem by W. B. YeatsAuthor: Yeats, W. B. (William Butler), 1865-1939,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Aug 14, 2010

Editor's review

Mosada: A dramatic poem is an early dramatic poem by William Butler Yeats, released by Project Gutenberg as a public-domain ebook. Compared with the lyric poetry Yeats became known for later, this work is more of a verse-play experiment: it advances the plot through dialogue and monologue, its language carries clear romantic and symbolist coloring, and its rhythm and imagery belong to the poet's formative period. For Yeats scholars or poetry lovers, its value lies in offering a clue to the early Yeats—how he used dramatic form to handle passion, fate, and a supernatural atmosphere. It should not be judged by the standards of the mature Yeats but seen within the verse-play tradition and the poet's development. Since it is an English verse text, read it aloud to feel the rhythm and tone, then go back over the characters' relationships and conflicts.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in Yeats's poetry and verse plays
Students of Irish literature or English verse drama
Readers who enjoy reading English poetry aloud for its rhythm
Literature lovers who want to see how the poet's early style took shape

Not a good fit for

General readers looking for Yeats's best-known mature poems
Drama readers who prefer tightly plotted, clearly narrated plays
Beginners with limited patience for verse texts and English reading

Reading tips

Read it aloud once to feel the rhythm, then go through it section by section to sort out the dialogue and plot.
Mark recurring images as you read and review their symbolic meaning afterward.
Read selections of Yeats's later poetry alongside it to trace changes in language and theme.

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 this a representative work by Yeats?

No. It is an early dramatic poem by Yeats, better treated as supplementary text for understanding the poet's development. If you only want his best-known poems, choose the mature lyric poetry first; this book's value is in showing the experiments of his formative period.

Can I read it without a background in drama?

Yes, but adjust your expectations. It does not rely on strong plot but on poetic language and atmosphere. Read it through once for the gist, then use the dialogue to sort out the conflict; if verse drama is unfamiliar, read a little introductory material first.

Is the electronic edition suitable for research citation?

The Project Gutenberg edition is a public-domain electronic text, usable for general reading and personal study. For formal academic citation, check an authoritative critical or scholarly edition to confirm page numbers, variants, and notes, so that differences in electronic formatting do not lead to inaccurate citation.

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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.