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Who is Yeats?

Irish poet.

William Butler Yeats

William Butler Yeats)(1865 June 13th, 1865—January 28th, 1939), also translated as "Yeats" and "Yates", was an Irish poet, playwright and famous mystic. Ye Zhi was the leader of the Irish Renaissance and one of the founders of Abbey Theatre.

Ye Zhi's early works still have the gorgeous romantic style, and he is good at creating a fantastic atmosphere. For example, his prose collection "Celtic Dawn" published in 1893 belongs to this style. However, after entering the age of no doubt, under the influence of the modernist poet Ezra Pound and others, especially under the influence of his personal experience in Irish nationalist political movement, Ye Zhi's creative style has undergone more intense changes, which is closer to modernism.

Ye Zhi is not only one of the decision makers of Abbey Theatre, but also served as a senator of Irish Parliament. He attaches great importance to his social positions and is a well-known hard worker in the Irish Senate. Ye Zhi won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1923 for "expressing the soul of the whole nation with his highly artistic and inspiring poems". In 1934, he and Rudyard Kipling won the Gutenberg Prize for Poetry.

* Early Life and Works

Ye Zhi was born in Sandymount, not far from Dublin, the Irish capital. His father, john butler Ye Zhi, is descended from jervis Ye Zhi, a linen merchant. The businessman died in 1712, and his grandson Benjamin married Mary Butler, the daughter of a noble family in Kildare. John Ye Zhi was studying law when he got married, but he soon dropped out of school to study portrait painting. His mother (that is, William Butler Yeats's grandmother) Susan Marie Polexfen comes from an Anglo-Irish family in County Sligo. Shortly after his birth, the poet moved to a big family in Sligo, and he himself always thought that Sligo County gave birth to his real childhood. Butler-Ye Zhi family is a very artistic family. The poet's brother Jack later became a famous painter, while his two sisters Elizabeth and Susan both participated in the famous "Arts and Crafts Movement".

Ye Zhi's family later moved to London for the poet's father's painting career. At first, Ye Zhi and his brothers and sisters received family education. The poet's mother often tells her children stories and folklore of her hometown because she misses her hometown of Sligo very much. In 1877, william yeats entered Godolphin Primary School and studied there for four years. However, William doesn't seem to like this experience in Gedofen, and his achievements are not outstanding. Due to financial difficulties, the poet's family moved back to Dublin at the end of 188. I lived in the city center at first, and then moved to Howth in the suburbs.

Time in Haosi is an important development stage for poets. Haosi is surrounded by hills and Woods, and it is said that there are elves. Yeats hired a maid, a fisherman's wife. She was familiar with all kinds of rural legends, and all her mysterious adventures were included in the later published Celtic Evening.

in October p>1881, the poet continued his studies at Erasmus Smith in Dublin. His father's studio is near this school, so poets often spend their time there and get to know many artists and writers in Dublin. During this period, Ye Zhi read a lot of works by British writers such as Shakespeare, and discussed with writers and artists who were much older than him. He graduated from this middle school in December 1883, and then he began to write poems. In 1885, Ye Zhi published his first poem and an essay entitled "The Poems of Sir Samuel Ferguson" in Dublin University Review. From 1884 to 1886, he studied at the Metropolitan School of Art in Kildare Street, which is the predecessor of the National Academy of Art and Design in Ireland.

* Young Poet

Before he started to write poetry, Ye Zhi had tried to combine poetry with religious ideas and emotions. Later, when describing his childhood life, he once said, "… I think … if a strong and compassionate spirit constitutes the fate of this world, then we can better understand this fate through words that blend people's hearts' desires for this world."

Ye Zhi's early poems are usually based on Irish myths and folklore, and his language style is influenced by pre-Raphael prose. During this period, Shelley's poems had a great influence on Ye Zhi. In a later article about Shelley, Ye Zhi wrote: "I reread Prometheus Liberated. Among all the great works in the world, its position in my heart is much higher than I expected. "

Ye Zhi was also influenced by John O 'Leary, the leader of the famous Irish Fenian organization at that time. In his later years, the poet said that Auryale was the most "charming old man" he had ever seen. "From Auryale's conversation and the Irish books he lent me or gave me, I have achieved my lifelong ambition." Under the introduction of Aurelia, Ye Zhi met Douglas Hyde and john tyler. The former founded the Gaelic League in 1893 to preserve and increase the use of Irish language.

Ye Zhi's first important poem is Sculpture Island, which is a fantastic work imitating edmund spenser's poems. This poem was published in the University of Dublin Review and has not been reprinted since. Ye Zhi's first published work was a pamphlet "Moshada: Dramatic Poetry". This article was also published in Dublin University Review, and only 1 copies were printed at the expense of his father. Since then, he has completed the narrative poem The Wanderings of Oisin, and published a collection of poems The Wandering of Uxin and Other Poems in 1889. This is the first work that has not been denied even after the maturity of Ye Zhi's style, which is based on the legends and fairy tales of ancient Irish warriors. It took the poet two years to complete this poem, and its style clearly reflects the influence of Ferguson and Pre-Raphael School on the poet. To some extent, this poem established the theme style of Ye Zhi's later poems: pursuing a life of meditation or a life of action. The themes of the first eight lyric poems and ballads in this collection of poems are derived from Ye Zhi's childhood imagination of Indians and arcadia's paradise-gods and goddesses, princes and princesses, palaces, peacocks and mysterious lotus flowers. There are obvious traces of romanticism and pre-Raphael in the poems. After Ushin's Adventures, Ye Zhi never wrote a long poem. Most of his other early works are lyric poems with the theme of love or mystery. With the increasing readership of Ye Zhi's works, he met many famous Irish and British writers at that time, including Bernard Shaw and Wilde.

Ye Zhi's family moved back to London in 1887. In 189, Ye Zhi and Ernest Rhys co-founded the "Rhymer's Club". This is a literary group composed of a group of like-minded poets, whose members meet regularly and published their own anthologies in 1892 and 1894 respectively. Ye Zhi's early works also include poetry anthology, mysterious rose and wind among the reeds. In fact, the literary achievements of the Poets' Club are not high, and Ye Zhi is almost the only poet who has made remarkable achievements.

* Chad Gunn, Irish Renaissance Movement and Abbey Theatre

In p>1889, Ye Zhi met Miss Chad Gunn. She is a woman who is keen on Irish nationalist movement. Miss Gon 'ang admired Ye Zhi's early poem "The Island of Sculpture" and took the initiative to meet Ye Zhi. Ye Zhi is deeply infatuated with this young lady, and this woman has greatly influenced Ye Zhi's later creation and life. After two years of close contact, Ye Zhi proposed to Miss Gon 'ang, but she was rejected. Later, he proposed to her three times, in 1889, 19 and 191, but all of them were rejected. Nevertheless, Ye Zhi is still haunted by Miss Gon 'ang, and based on her, she wrote the play Countess Kathleen. In the play, Kathleen sold her soul to the devil to save her compatriots from famine and finally went to heaven. It was not until 1899 that the play was staged, which caused many religious and political controversies. Finally, in 193, Miss Gang married john mcbride, an Irish national movement politician. In this year, Ye Zhi left for the United States for a long lecture tour. During this period, he had a brief love affair with Olivia Shakespeare. They met in 1896, but broke up a year later.

It was also in 1896 that Ye Zhi met Mrs. Augusta Gregory, and the introducer was their friend Edward Martin. Mrs Gregory encouraged Ye Zhi to take part in the nationalist movement and create plays. Although Ye Zhi was influenced by French symbolism, it is obvious that his works have a clear and unique Irish style. This style was strengthened in Ye Zhi's contacts with the younger Irish writers. Ye Zhi, Mrs Gregory, Martin and some other Irish writers launched the famous Irish Renaissance (or Celtic Renaissance).

In addition to writers' literary creation, the translation and excavation of ancient legends, Gaelic poems and modern Gaelic folk songs by academic translators also played a great role in promoting the Irish Renaissance. The representative figure is Douglas Hyde, who later became the president of Ireland. His Love Song of Connaught Province is highly respected.

One of the most enduring achievements of this movement is the establishment of Abbey Theatre. In 1889, Ye Zhi, Mrs Gregory, Martin and George Moore founded the Irish Literary Theatre. The group only existed for two years, and it was not successful. With the help of two Irish brothers William Faye and Frank Faye, who have rich experience in drama creation, and Anne Elizabeth Frederica Horniman, Ye Zhi's unpaid secretary (a wealthy British woman who participated in the London premiere of Bernard Shaw's Arms and Man in 1894), this group successfully created a brand-new Irish national theater. After the participation of the famous playwright John millington Sing, the group even made a lot of money by performing plays in Dublin, and built the Abbey Theatre on December 27th, 194. On the opening night of the theater, two plays by Ye Zhi were grandly released. From then on until his death, Ye Zhi's creative career was always related to Abbey Theatre. He is not only a member of the board of directors of the theater, but also a prolific playwright.

In 192, Ye Zhi funded the establishment of Dan Emmer Publishing House to publish the works of writers related to the Renaissance. This publishing house was renamed Kula Publishing House in 194. The publishing house existed until 1946 and was run by two sisters in Ye Zhi. A total of 7 books were published, 48 of which were written by Ye Zhi himself. In the summer of 1917, Ye Zhi reunited with Miss Gang and proposed to her adopted daughter, but she was rejected. In September, he proposed to an English woman, George Hedris, and she agreed. The two married on October 2 of that year. Soon, Ye Zhi bought Valletta near Kul Park, and soon renamed it "Tulba Valletta". Ye Zhi spent most of the summer of the rest of his life here. On February 24th, 1919, Ye Zhi's eldest daughter, Ann Ye Zhi, was born in Dublin. Ann inherited her mother's wisdom, serenity and friendliness, and her father's extraordinary artistic talent, and later became a painter.

* The influence of mysticism

Ye Zhi has been interested in mysticism and spiritualism all his life. In 1885, Ye Zhi and some friends founded the Dublin Hermetic Order. The organization held its first meeting on June 16th, with Ye Zhi as its leader. In the same year, the Theological Society Museum in Dublin was officially opened under the organization of the psychic Brahman Mosini Satri, and Ye Zhi attended his first seance the following year. Later, Ye Zhi was addicted to mysticism and psychics. In 19, he even became the leader of the "Golden Dawn Secret Brotherhood". He joined the organization in 189. After their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Ye Zhi tried unconscious writing, which was all the rage.

Ye Zhi's mysticism tendency is particularly evident in his famous poem Lida and Swan. This short poem, based on Greek mythology, tells the story of Zeus turning into a swan and combining with beautiful Rita and giving birth to two daughters (one is the famous Helen, which triggered the Trojan War; One is Clytaemestra, the wife of Agamemnon, who was commanded by the Greek army. This motif has appeared repeatedly in western literary and artistic works. The original intention of Ye Zhi's creation of this masterpiece has been interpreted in various ways by western critics. Some think that "the root of historical changes lies in sex and war", while others think that "history is the result of the interaction of human creativity and destructive power". The mainstream western literary history regards Rita and Swan as a landmark work of symbolic poetry.

In the process of the formation of Ye Zhi's mysticism, Catherine Tynan's influence is not insignificant. Tainan is a talented poetess, and Ye Zhi was very close to her in her early years. It was under the influence of Tainan that Ye Zhi frequently participated in the activities of various mystical organizations. Tainan admired Ye Zhi's talent all her life, but Ye Zhi gradually alienated her later.

Ye Zhi's mysticism was greatly influenced by Indian religion. In his later years, he even translated the Upanishads of Hinduism into English himself. Psychic theory and supernatural meditation became the inspiration of Ye Zhi's late poetry creation. Some critics have criticized the mysticism tendency in Ye Zhi's poems, believing that it lacks preciseness and credibility. W·H· Auden once sharply criticized Ye Zhi in his later years as "a pitiful exhibition of adults whose brains have been occupied by nonsense about witchcraft and Indian". However, it was during this period that Ye Zhi wrote many of his most immortal works. If we want to understand the mystery of Ye Zhi's poems in his later years, we must understand the mystical thinking system of his book second sight published in 1925. Today, people understand Ye Zhi's later poems by reading this book, but they don't regard it as a religious or philosophical work.

* Transition to Modernism

In p>1913, Ye Zhi met the young American poet Ezra Pound in London. In fact,