W. B. Yeats, The Tower

Wim Van Mierlo (University of Loughborough)

Ed. by Andrew Radford, University of Glasgow
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.08: English Writing and Culture of the early Twentieth Century , 1900-1945.
Vol. editors: Chris Baldick (Goldsmiths College, University of London), Peter Childs (Birmingham Newman University), Louise McDonald (Birmingham Newman University), Andrew Radford (University of Glasgow)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1928

Places

England (Publication/ performance)
Ireland, Republic of (Eire) (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Poem collection

Resources

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Written at the height of his creative capacities, W. B. Yeats’s

The Tower

was issued simultaneously in London and New York by Macmillan in 1928; the earliest poems date from 1921. The book is by far his greatest volume, containing some of his best-known poems such as “Sailing to Byzantium”, “Among School Children”, and “Leda and the Swan”. Tightly structured and symbolically rich,

The Tower

is also one of Yeats’s more challenging collections because of its enigmatic symbolism. Sean O’Faoláin complained that Yeats’s verse was “often obscure to a fault” (p. 528). In many respects, the opening poem, “Sailing to Byzantium”, with its closed, obscure symbolism and confusing syntax, is the volume’s first obstacle. Exacerbating the difficulties, the influence of

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1889 words

Citation: Van Mierlo, Wim. "The Tower". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 14 September 2024 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=7951, accessed 29 October 2024.]

W. B. Yeats, The Tower

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