W. B. Yeats, A Life Vol.1: The Apprentice Mage 1865-1914: v. 1 - Hardcover

Foster, R. F.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0192117351 ISBN 13: 9780192117359

Publisher: OUP Oxford, 1997

Synopsis

In the first authorized biography of W. B. Yeats for over fifty years, Roy Foster sheds new light on one of the most complex and fascinating lives of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Working from a great archive of personal and contemporary material, he dramatically alters traditional perceptions to illuminate the poet's family history, relationships, politics and art. From a childhood inheritance of déclassé Irish Protestantism with strong nationalist sympathies, and an exceptional and talented family background, the narrative charts Yeats's development into an original and outstanding poet. It ends in his fiftieth year with the controversies and disillusionment affecting his personal and public life at the time of the First World War. A bohemian life of uncertain finances, love-affairs, avant-garde friends and experiments with drugs and occultism prefaces his attempt to unite politics with high culture and his creation of an Irish national theatre. Constantly shifting between Dublin, Coole Park and London, with forays to America and Paris, ruthlessly constructing a public life as well as a creative reputation, Yeats's genius attracted admirers and enemies with equal passion. His story intersects with those of an engrossing cast of characters including Lady Gregory, J. M. Synge, George Moore, `AE', Ezra Pound and above all Maud Gonne - an influence eternally re-created `like the phoenix', affecting almost everything he did. The search for supernatural wisdom forms a constant thread, traced through Yeats's occult notebooks and closely related to the insecurities of his personal life. The Apprentice Mage charts the growth of a poet's mind and of an astonishing personality, both of which were instrumental in the formation of a new and radicalized Irish nationalist identity.

About this title

Review:

"Rich as Yeats's achievements had been, Mr. Foster says in his final paragraph, what lay ahead would be more astonishing. The old magician, apprentice no longer, has found in Mr. Foster a worthy biographer. He would be relieved to know, as readers of Irish writing have known for some years, that the biographer is himself a fine writer, bearing with grace his knowledge of Irish history, and writing with wit, authority and, when appropriate, considerable eloquence."--New York Times Book Review "A wonderful work of scholarship. It turns Yeats around, making us see his poems from within his life and helps us to experience them in a way that both revealing and intensely moving."--Washington Times "The often quite grim youthful experiences, the yearnings, the search for love, the magical evocations of place and time, which we have all known for so long, take on a new and deeper intesnsity as we explore with Mr. Foster their background and their inspiration. This is a great story of Ireland's greatest poet, and it is superbly told."-- "With a shrewd sense of irony, Foster vividly evokes the frustrations of Yeats's apprentice years."--Inside Publishing "By showing that the explosion of heroic myths can enhance rather than diminish humanity, Roy Foster's book has opened up new visions not just of Yeats but of the Irish culture he did so much to create."--he Economist Review "In this superb biography, Foster unscrambles destiny and complicates it into life. The most distinguished Irish historian alive, Foster floods his Yeats with historical detail"--James Woods, Slate "Foster has rightly dubbed his biography a thick' history of Yeats's life; it's also a smoothly written one that is politically as well as psychologically astute."--The Nation "Mr. Foster has a jeweler's eye for the crystallizing moments in Yeats's development."Wall Street Journal "Foster gives us a considerably more nuanced view of what it means to be a mystic, a holy man, a seer in modern times than Yeats biographers before him. He shows that Yeats was a s much a striver as a seeker--that the poet cannot be understood except as a man on the make, in pursuit of fame, love, and revelation."--Weekly Standard "Rich as Yeats's achievements had been, Mr. Foster says in his final paragraph, what lay ahead would be more astonishing. The old magician, apprentice no longer, has found in Mr. Foster a worthy biographer. He would be relieved to know, as readers of Irish writing have known for some years, that the biographer is himself a fine writer, bearing with grace his knowledge of Irish history, and writing with wit, authority and, when appropriate, considerable eloquence."--New York Times Book Review "A wonderful work of scholarship. It turns Yeats around, making us see his poems from within his life and helps us to experience them in a way that both revealing and intensely moving."--Washington Times "The often quite grim youthful experiences, the yearnings, the search for love, the magical evocations of place and time, which we have all known for so long, take on a new and deeper intesnsity as we explore with Mr. Foster their background and their inspiration. This is a great story of Ireland's greatest poet, and it is superbly told."-- "With a shrewd sense of irony, Foster vividly evokes the frustrations of Yeats's apprentice years."--Inside Publishing "By showing that the explosion of heroic myths can enhance rather than diminish humanity, Roy Foster's book has opened up new visions not just of Yeats but of the Irish culture he did so much to create."--he Economist Review "In this superb biography, Foster unscrambles destiny and complicates it into life. The most distinguished Irish historian alive, Foster floods his Yeats with historical detail"--James Woods, Slate "Foster has rightly dubbed his biography a thick' history of Yeats's life; it's also a smoothlywritten one that is politically as well as psychologically astute."--The Nation "Mr. Foster has a jeweler's eye for the crystallizing moments in Yeats's development."Wall Street Journal "Foster gives us a considerably more nuanced view of what it means to be a mystic, a holy man, a seer in modern times than Yeats biographers before him. He shows that Yeats was a s much a striver as a seeker--that the poet cannot be understood except as a man on the make, in pursuit of fame, love, and revelation."--Weekly Standard "Rich as Yeats's achievements had been, Mr. Foster says in his final paragraph, what lay ahead would be more astonishing. The old magician, apprentice no longer, has found in Mr. Foster a worthy biographer. He would be relieved to know, as readers of Irish writing have known for some years, that the biographer is himself a fine writer, bearing with grace his knowledge of Irish history, and writing with wit, authority and, when appropriate, considerable eloquence."--New York Times Book Review "A wonderful work of scholarship. It turns Yeats around, making us see his poems from within his life and helps us to experience them in a way that both revealing and intensely moving."--Washington Times "The often quite grim youthful experiences, the yearnings, the search for love, the magical evocations of place and time, which we have all known for so long, take on a new and deeper intesnsity as we explore with Mr. Foster their background and their inspiration. This is a great story of Ireland's greatest poet, and it is superbly told."-- "With a shrewd sense of irony, Foster vividly evokes the frustrations of Yeats's apprentice years."--Inside Publishing "By showing that the explosion of heroic myths can enhance rather than diminish humanity, Roy Foster's book has opened up new visions not just of Yeats but of the Irish culture he did so much to create."--he Economist Review "In this superb biography, Foster unscrambles destiny and complicates it into life. The most distinguished Irish historian alive, Foster floods his Yeats with historical detail"--James Woods, Slate "Foster has rightly dubbed his biography athick' history of Yeats's life; it's also a smoothly written one that is politically as well as psychologically astute."--The Nation "Mr. Foster has a jeweler's eye for the crystallizing moments in Yeats's development."Wall Street Journal "Foster gives us a considerably more nuanced view of what it means to be a mystic, a holy man, a seer in modern times than Yeats biographers before him. He shows that Yeats was a s much a striver as a seeker--that the poet cannot be understood except as a man on the make, in pursuit of fame, love, and revelation."--Weekly Standard "Rich as Yeats's achievements had been, Mr. Foster says in his final paragraph, what lay ahead would be more astonishing. The old magician, apprentice no longer, has found in Mr. Foster a worthy biographer. He would be relieved to know, as readers of Irish writing have known for some years, that the biographer is himself a fine writer, bearing with grace his knowledge of Irish history, and writing with wit, authority and, when appropriate, considerable eloquence."--New York Times Book Review "A wonderful work of scholarship. It turns Yeats around, making us see his poems from within his life and helps us to experience them in a way that both revealing and intensely moving."--Washington Times "The often quite grim youthful experiences, the yearnings, the search for love, the magical evocations of place and time, which we have all known for so long, take on a new and deeper intesnsity as we explore with Mr. Foster their background and their inspiration. This is a great story of Ireland's greatest poet, and it is superbly told."-- "With a shrewd sense of irony, Foster vividly evokes the frustrations of Yeats's apprentice years."--Inside Publishing "By showing that the explosion of heroic myths can enhance rather than diminish humanity, Roy Foster's book has opened up new visions not just of Yeats but of the Irish culture he did so much to create."--he Economist Review "In this superb biography, Foster unscrambles destiny and complicates it into life. The most distinguished Irish historian alive, Foster floods his Yeats with historical detail"--James Woods, Slate "Foster has rightly dubbed his biography a thick' history of Yeats's life; it's also a smoothlywritten one that is politically as well as psychologically astute."--The Nation "Mr. Foster has a jeweler's eye for the crystallizing moments in Yeats's development."Wall Street Journal "Foster gives us a considerably more nuanced view of what it means to be a mystic, a holy man, a seer in modern times than Yeats biographers before him. He shows that Yeats was a s much a striver as a seeker--that the poet cannot be understood except as a man on the make, in pursuit of fame, love, and revelation."--Weekly Standard

Book Description:

The first authorized biography of W. B. Yeats for over 50 years

About this edition

• Publisher: OUP Oxford
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 0192117351
• ISBN 13: 9780192117359
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 704