The author is William Butler Yeats (June 13, 1865 - January 28, 1939), a famous Irish poet, playwright and mystic. He was also a leader of the Irish Renaissance and one of the founders of the Abbey Theatre.
Born in Dublin to a family of painters. His creation can be divided into three stages, each stage has good works, and the content and style have different characteristics. In the 1890s, he was influenced by the poets and painters of the time and tended to romanticism. In 1891, he organized the "Poets Club" with some poets, advocating that the language of poetry should be hazy, implicit and transcendent like dreams. He hates the incongruous life caused by commercial civilization and hopes to stay away from the modern world. Therefore, the works of this period show an aesthetic tendency that is divorced from reality, with a romantic color and full of musical beauty. In this regard, he was deeply influenced by Spencer and Shelley, and later accepted Blake's artistic technique of expressing poetic thoughts through fantasy, so he is considered to belong to the "Pre-Raphaelite" style. Famous works include the poetic drama "The Land of Wishes" (1894), the poem "Crossroads" (1889), the lyric poem "Innisfree Island" (1890), "The White Bird" (symbolizing the soul) and "The Rose of the World" (Symbolizing love) etc.
After the 1990s, Ireland launched a movement demanding national autonomy under the leadership of Sinn Féin. Yeats supported this movement and worked with the playwrights Lady Gregory and John. Singer co-founded the "Abbey Theater". Yeats created some dramas reflecting the life of Irish farmers based on the colorful folk myths and folk songs of Ireland. His works of this period fully express the unique enthusiasm and imagination of the Irish nation. Because he is close to real life, his poetic style has changed from the early illusion and hazy to solid and clear. The poetic drama "Catherine of Holihen" (1902) used the legend about Queen Catherine in Irish mythology to express Ireland's desire for independence. "Easter 1916" (1921) was written to commemorate the workers' uprising, praising the heroic sacrifices made by the martyrs for the cause of national independence, "producing magnificent beauty." Other works include "Who Goes with Fergus", "The Man Who Dreams of Wonderland", "The Secret Rose", "The Fairies in the Sky", "The Song of Angus the Wanderer", etc.
The later period is the mature stage of Yeats's creation. Because he was close to people's lives, he absorbed creative materials and people's language; and his study of metaphysical poetry added philosophy to his poems; his special imagination allowed him to continue to develop symbolism. Yeats's works during this period have three elements: realism, symbolism, and philosophical poetry. Especially lyric poetry, with its refined spoken language and rich symbolic techniques, achieved high artistic achievements. The outstanding poems include "The Bell Tower" (1928), "The Winding Staircase" (1929) and "Towards Byzantium", "Byzantium", "Leda and the Swan", etc.
In terms of his attitude towards politics and culture, Yeats was an aristocratic. He believed that the aristocracy had wealth and a deep understanding of etiquette, and could only produce great rulers and clean governments among them. Only they could protect art and leave artists free to create art. At the same time, he was influenced by Eastern mystical teachings. In terms of philosophy and history, he believed that human history and personal life are like a spiral staircase, and everything improves and advances through repetition; he classified good and evil, life and death, beauty and ugliness, joy and sorrow, soul and body. Seen as a unity of contradictions. This idea is clearly reflected in his later works.
Yeats won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1923.