William Butler Yeats

Hurrah for revolution and more cannon shot;
A beggar upon horseback lashes a beggar upon foot;
Hurrah for revolution and cannon come again,
The beggars have changed places but the lash goes on.

I’ve loved William Yeats since 1994 when my Senior English teacher allowed us to pick poems to analyze for the class. As Fortune would have it, I wound up getting Yeats’ The Second Coming.

Knowing my bias to the Gothic and the Byronic, my teacher, Mrs. Fritsche said: “Oh you’re going to love that one.” She was right. I’ve loved Yeats ever since. I toted my volume of The Portable Yeats from Houston, to Austin, to the Bay, to Austin, Back, and then on to New York. I finally let it go owing to the space constraints of Manhattan, but Yeats is definitely one of my favorites.

Below, find a collection of some of his finest poems: