Spending most of his childhood around the Lough Gill area in Sligo, infused William Butler Yeats, a Dublin man, with a deep and lasting passion for his adopted county. Yeats, an Anglo-Irish protestant, was educated in Dublin and London taking a special interest in poetry and Irish mythological legend during and from his formative days.
His first collection of work ‘ The wanderings of Oisin’ published in 1889, is a lyrical jaunt through the musings of a 24 year old, which were by now being influenced by Shelley, Spenser and Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood poetry. His mind was by now pondering the conundrums of Cyclical life theories -predicting someone’s social, emotional and love life (astrology is touched on here) Wow! He also contemplated mysticism, the occult, Irish legends, fairies all while working on drama, writings and of course his poetry.
If that is not enough for any mortal, 1889 was the year he met Maud Gonne McBride, regarded, by some, to have been the most beautiful woman of Ireland at that time, and he later said that having met her, the “troubling” of his life began.
Yeats and Maud Gonne McBride
Maud Gonne McBride wove a spell over Yeats that ensnared him completely, so much so that even after six rejections of marriage he could not or did not want to break the spell.
Yeats’s passion in life was beauty and nature and in Sligo, it’s almost natural to allow yourself to be overwhelmed by both so, from the themes of three poetic influences above, they would have been like magnets to the young poets style. Spenser’s characters must have nearly introduced themselves to folk heroes of Yeats. One such character, the strong and fighting spirited Britomart in the Faery Queen must have been given life when he met Maud Gonne.
When he disowned some earlier works later in his maturity, the Lough Gill Isle Of Innisfree was not one of them so the poem must have reverberated in his mind when coming to grips with Maud’s marriage proposal rejections. Looking at Lough Gill even now it’s hard to think of somewhere better to retreat where Shelley’s theory that the solace and relief of nature’s love could exercise its spirit over mankind.
His resting place is at Drumcliff, 7km from Sligo town, under the shadow of Benbulbin, I pondered his achievments, outside his obvious poetic genius, for a change, and reflected on what sort of ability, brilliance and single- minded drive he must have possessed to desire a resurgence in Irish literature which became known as an Irish Literary Renaissance, particularly in the times that were in it. Then, with Lady Gregory, to found the Irish Theater, now The Abbey Theater. Is Yates on his travels this minute spreading his influence on some higher plain on the Astral.
If you are interested in learning more about W.B.Yeats, the Yeats Society in Sligo town offers a permanent exhibition of his life and works and hosts the Yeats International Summer School – the longest running literary summer school in the world.