W.B.Yeats Reading His Own Verse

[grannybrenny]

I went to Eire to visit all the places made famous by Yeats in 1969. It was bloody cold. Having not been long off the boat from Oz pure magic. My then husband had this early recording so it is very familiar.

[XxsmileyjackxX]

such a beautiful piece of work, reminds me of my grandfather and sligo, the town we both loved.

[draoi99]

Sailing to Byzantium and The Second Coming are favourites. I think they show that Yeats was a great poet, not just a fine poet.

[999rambo999]

I'm here because I have to do my homework-.-

[Tinasmyth3112]

@999rambo999 same with me:D

[spongebobsquarejocks]

first time i heard him, sounds like dev, very dissappointed

[thethirdq]

I can tell how much time and effort it took to make this video and channel. I hope you like mine and we can chat some time.

[blacklantern711]

im named after yeates

[Piquarian]

@rtmsknt : Yeats was venerable even in Eliot's youth, and was much subject to imitation. But I think where Eliot's voice was more naturally alike in some respects, Ezra Pound was more imitating than was Eliot. Listen to Pound reading. He often derided Yeats, although they were friends, but it is clear that he revered and sought to be like him.

[flannery50]

Thank you so much for posting this precious time capsule.

[adrianafischetti]

thank you so much for posting this.

[fazlam]

Yall are crazy, Milton was the greatest poet.

[kleban10]

@fazlam Milton and Shakespeare ought to be recognized as the two strongest in the language...

[vickiehill1]

After Keats...Yeats is my all-time favorite poet. How wonderful to be able to hear his voice reciting his own poetry. This is absolutely priceless!!

[Rabidburt]

Greatest poet to write in English since Shakespeare. . .

[Rabidburt]

Yeats kills. . .

[mimmolove1]

when ypu are old... a masterpiece.my students also accepted to share the magnificence of those lines.thans for posting

[asharpclarinet]

Definitely not the last of the metaphysical poets, but one of the greatest, for sure.

[daydreamsdandelions]

TheWhizz, that is definitely Yeats reading that poem. It doesn't sound German at all, either.

[eatsomebrainsx]

I always think he was born in the wrong era. I'd have loved to meet him, pity. He's one of the greatest Irish people that ever lived.

[TheWhizz123]

FAKE...wb Yeats was Irish not german and he didn't sound like einstein

[makemeateeshirt]

ah'd a preffered ta hear ya recitin it when ye were younger willy butler...cuz: "an ag'd man is vut a paltry thing...../////unless soul clap hands and sing...and ever sing in every tatter of it's mortal dress...ah'd hate to be a woman...when lookz have dun gawn...

[rtmsknt]

He sounds a lot like TS Eliot reading The Wasteland.

[EclecticSceptic]

Great video, as in I'm sure it's a rare recording, but I can't stand Yeats. He's so pretentious. The only poem I've ever liked of his is 'The Lake Isle of Inisfree'. He is called the greatest ever Irish poet, but then again, people also think Paul Durcan isn't just completely full of shite. So, what does that say of common opinion?

[SoyHadaDelBosque]

it sounds like a song :) LOVE IT

[Mushcles]

"Cast a cold Eye on life, on Death. Horseman, pass by."

To be so lucky as to have been born in his era. Ireland's Pride.

[scifiwritir]

Oh, so that's what he sounded like? The speaking style of poets change so according to their decade. He sounds like all the great rhetoricians of his time. Whether politician, poet, or preacher, they all have that same stentorian high-floating tone.

[EclecticSceptic]

@scifiwritir High floating is a good description, but stentorian is out of place.

[brasilcork]

Most poets cannot read their own stuff. This is a case in point. He turns the poems into high comedy. Unintentionally of course.



[marmas58ink]

1st time I've heard Yeats voice. I was afraid his accent would be too 'severe' to my American ears, that I'd have a hard time understanding him. Reading Innisfree, 2:01 , I was soon reminded of Edna St V Millay; the lengthened vowels, the intonation & gravity... I doubt she ever heard him. He didn't remind me of Dylan Thomas, (far more dramatic), or Auden or Spender (2 poets much closer to home, geographically at least). Eliot too sounds more Auden then Yeats. Still maybe a style of the era?

[cairielle]

what is/are the title of piece/s he's reciting?

[samarian100]

I met a phsyical poet once,name of Brendan Behan-he liked oul Yeats; live and let live lads,eh? [we're all part of Ireland's standing army of 10,000 failed poets]."Scorn the sort now growing up, all out of shape from toe to top"etc was just meant to let us reflect, I hope. Oiche Mhaith.

[tattoofthesun]

it sounds almost as if he speaks normally in poetry

[balticsaint]

Well Chickengoujons i cant name one single poet who has never lived. To me mossfitz this reading sounds like incantation. I much prefer the clancy brothers reading of this poem - better resonance and rhythm. Yeatschick he is my cousins cousins cousins cousins cousins cousin - but so are about 1 million other people.

Personalised geneology is a form of fascism.

[oberlepa]

There's a bit more urgency in his later version of 'Innisfree', isn't there?

[ravenCLI]

@oberlepa -- i do not think so - i have heard the earliest recording, which was in the BBC's archive (some years ago, now) -- i needed to give a eulogy for one of my former students who died too soon - she enjoyed the 'wild' lands of Canada - and i said to her, at the service, that it would be read differently from the way yeats had read it (i have a collection that he chose in, i think ,1929). Odd, I read it like his later recording ... but then, i am much older than he, will ever be[e]. raven

[thethikboy]

He sings his poem - he must because either poetry is music or it is just talk

[yeatschick]

He is my great great great great great uncle!

[343Jeannie]

I have been to his grave too but I was too young to understand how important that visit was.

I learned this poem in school too - I will arise and go now and go now to Inisfree! And a small cabin built there! ...............And, live alone in the bee loud glade!

Amazing to listen to this, amazing.

[dave777blaster]

Priceless

[lecekittybabe]

I have been to W.B Yeats grave quite a few times, although his grave stone is plain, it is what the stone trys to put accross!! W.B Yeats stone quotes " Cast a cold eye on life on death, Horseman pass by"!! It is thus which is important :) You should also check out The hills of Glencar, in which the waterfall is is which he talks about..

[StinkiwinkiPoo]

nice that the cranberries made a song of him ^^

[hempgru4]

celtic twilight :)

[fwerno]

I been to his grave twice now. Its very plain.

Love the way he reads this, its kind of enchanting.

[Wikipunani]

The monotone approach was a method of attempting to inculcate an objective approach to the poetry. Even a dignified approach to it.

These were not men taught to be confident in sharing their innermost, but who had to learn to show it, one must remember.

Some poetry -- indeed, much of it -- must be presented with a clear emotional bias.

[Wikipunani]

"..and that is why I will NOT read them as if they were prose."

QFT

[uttyt8]

I live in Sligo. It is in Ireland. His grave is about a mile from my house

[Wikipunani]

Lucky

Guy should have some sort of a shrine

Not one above the All Father, of course, but damn, SOMEthin!

[uttyt8]

Actually, his gravestone is so plain. Type up on Google Images 'W.B. Yeats' Gravestone'.

[Paxseko]

It always strikes me how stylistically Yeats talks and recites. He was definitely a man from another time. People don't put up with that kind of dramatic monotone these days. XD

[00Narayana00]

memories emblazened down where yeats used to sleep he wrote his epitah and i sat on the stone watched the birds take off and said that this is the place.

a man rode past in the wind and shouted something. i diden't know if it was a ghost or real. i reaD the stone out loud and walked off. Live.

[jsspoppy464]

@00Narayana00 is that your own poetry? I really like it.

[jbrooker265]

who eould have thought that we would hear this man, born in 19th c yet still heard in 21st!!!

[mrdogwalker2009]

best of them all

[hanson666999]

Wonderful, its amazing to hear that little moment that has been captured in time.

[arnyarny77]

dont know much about poetry, but i know he was in the famous golden dawn and he did not want aleister crowely in the order!

[seosamh1c]

Theosophy, the Golden Dawn psychical sex and a flirtation with Fascism. Very weird, but in his defense he was from Baile Easa Dara in Sligo and this, plus, an unsurpassed facility with poetic language - spirit dictated in part? - exonerates him perhaps

[caribb57]

as a cuban nationalist, living iin the us, i respect yeatsto to the almost, and to hear his voice, is a miracle.

[JenFrusciante]

It's actually amazing to hear him recite his own poetry. So proud to be related to this man.

And great way to study for my exam tomorrow!! x

[MCM54]

How are you related to my favorite writer / poet?

[JenFrusciante]

My family name is Yeats, he's my grandad's great uncle. So I suppose that would make him my great great great uncle?

[sabymoon]

@JenFrusciante I visited the Yeats museum in Sligo and stayed at a B and B under Ben Bulben's head. My family originated in Armagh but came to the U.S. early. I have always felt an affinity with Irish literature, and studied under W.R. Rodgers. Are you descended from Jack Yeats? Mullaney Bros. in Sligo has a Yeats sisters carpet upstairs... he took us up to see it.

[JenFrusciante]

@sabymoon Both Jack Yeats and W.B. Yeats are great uncles of mine. If you are ever in Dublin there is a permanent exhibition here too. I'm studying Irish literature aswell, hoping to start my masters this year. Inbox me if you want, I'd love to know what you have studied :)

[whitehorn411]

@JenFrusciante- You also have the last name of a great guitar player!

[JenFrusciante]

@whitehorn411 That's not my real last name ;) I'm just a massive fan! x

[JackyRowe]

@JenFrusciante Lucky dick...  :P

[TimonofBath]

@JenFrusciante Can I have your autograph please?

[JenFrusciante]

@TimonofBath Sorry, I don't do autographs.

[MrChinaCatSunflower]

@JenFrusciante He's my great great great uncle too!

[Waitingbythemailbox]

@JenFrusciante If that's true then you are so lucky! I love Yeats

[violetsky0036]

Musician Loreena McKennitt has set some of Yeats and Tennyson's poetry to music. "She Moved Thru the Fair", "Bonny Swans", "Lady of Shallott." Her voice is beautiful. Classified as World/Celtic mostly. If you like her listen to "Dante's Prayer". Written after seeing dispair of Russia and reading "Dante's Inferno" in 1995 train trip. There is no one quite like her. Find these on youtube.

[MissLadyDracula]

Loreena does such a beautiful job. Absolutely adore her music

[ashburnhouse]

I like it how Pound took his delivery, but then got sad about it when caught.

[nyghtowl]

W B Yeats was the last of the metaphysical poets.

TIOCFAIIDH AR LAR!

[brychar66]

Oh I dunno, there are still a few of us about (metaphysical poets) - I am one myself! Try reading some of my more abstruse effusions :)

[ravenCLI]

@brychar66 -- I have spent a little time this evening following your line of thought. I have noticed your posts hitherto. I like the Klavier renditition of the Liebestod on your first site. I remember the the first performance I saw live at the Zurich Opera House in the early 1960's. It is so well situated. My sincere compliments on your Cavafy translations. understated, yes. from a fellow goat, all food fortune .... raven

[cavafyinenglish]

@ravenCLI Many thanks for listening - and commenting Charles

[pollexfen17]

Tiocfaiidh: is that a typo?

Do you mean,"tiocfaidh"?

"Lar" mean "centre".

SO you mean to say, "Our centre will come"? Ha Ha Ha!

Are you illiterate in two languages or only the one?

Isn't education a wonderful thing and isn't it great to pretend you have it?

[Bhailte]

You seem to think so. o.o 'Lár' means 'centre'. Not "lar". I don't think you should be so nit-picky to criticise someone's typing-accuracy if you're not willing to check your own grammar ("'Lar" mean "centre'" -> means). Really, I don't think you should criticise someone's accuracy, period, but you seem high up on it, so I thought I'd help augment your ostentatiousness.

[Niamh666]

Haha well said!

[grobbledonk]

@nyghtowl What makes him a metaphysical poet?

[nyghtowl]

@grobbledonk The subject-matter and also his involvement with OTO.

The meta's were originally 17th century, but the term fits Yeats also. :)

[foleyisgood]

@nyghtowl lol "tiocfaidh ar la" you mean, also what has that to do with WBY?

[arbak2]

Thank you so much for posting this, I love this poem and it is amazing to have it read by W.B Yeats

[andsotobed]

Fabulous. Thank you for this amazing piece of history.

[TheCommonStrange]

Thank you so much for posting this piece of history.

I studied English Literature at the University of Karachi, Pakistan and came across his poem. I quite admire this poet.

Listening to it, remind me of my university days which i left two years ago and be surrounded by books in the University library

Thanks once again

[Argonaut22j]

It is incredible to be able to hear this. I am speechless.

[ChickenGoujons]

I love this. Somehow hearing a poet reciting their own poetry is so different to reading it yourself. Yeats is the greatest poet who ever lived and it is really wonderful to hear him reciting and speaking about his poems.

Where did you find this, out of interest?

[brychar66]

Glad you liked it, it's from an old recording that's been in my possession for 40 years or more.

[ChickenGoujons]

Wow. You're really lucky to have something like this.

[Balladofthewind]

Lucky Indeed! (as are we thank to your sharing it) does anyone have either yeats himself or a professional reader's recital of yeats To a chil dancing in the wind. ?

[Erik47474]

What would Yeats make of YouTube?

This is truly a great historical document and with YouTube the sound of Irelands greatest poet, his voice and his choice words will echo for all, around the world.

Wondeful. Thankyou for posting.

[artist51]

I memorized and recited The Isle of Innesfree for my father on his deathbed, and then he died in front of me.

Rosemary Kavanagh O'Carroll

[bigchinasean]

That's amazing.

[queenievenus]

He was Anglo -Irish was'nt that the reason for his accent?

I was taught to recite this poem in this very way 50 years ago, although it is only very recently I have had the pleasure of listening to the man himself.

[Erik47474]

He was Irish. Born in Dublin in 1865. Lived there, as well as Sligo and London. His accent is definitely West of Ireland/Sligo.

[tintosangre]

I LOVE his slightly irritated comment that people will EXPECT him to read "Lake Isle of Innesfree" - even poets could get weary of their hits.

[boyleb1]

Yeats sounds very like eamonn de valera here.

[akooshla]

Yeats's accent is a perfectly ordinary one of his era, an accent that has been superseded by the Dortspeak of the current middle class. Look for audio, for instance, of 'John Brennan' (Sidney Czira), the sister of Grace Gifford, and you'll hear the same accent.

[cavafyinenglish]

Thanks for that very interesting observation. It is fascinating (and sometimes depressing!) to observe how accents change. I remember that my own grandparents spoke very slowly & clearly and with a different emphasis. Charles

[gatesofoak]

but yeats knew how to read poems, cf. john hegley, ian mcmillan, pam ayres

[POETIeSOGNATORI]

A great document! Thank you.

[frankykid]

he is extractin the yellow stuff, bollox

[krsfell]

Thank you. Thank you

[BeardySteve]

I write to imitate my friend,

To make a verse of wonder suit,

To complement and never end

The work of Yeats. He gave me fruit.

His death made room for ranks to grow,

Although now dead he never sleeps,

His faithful poets have followed;

The fruit he gave produced a seed.

[ARCHETECTONIC]

This is incredible. Thank you. His emphasis on pace, on attitude and precision is a great model for what i need in my own writing. Thank you.

[Uthoruk]

A poem is made to be sung, if you remember the essay of Oscar Wilde. And it's lecture is something very personal to the poet. In Yeats you feel the tiredness of being in a city when your heart belong to the country.

He reads it with the melancholy the poem evoke.

Thanks for giving this to all of us!

He is also my favorite poet...

[brychar66]

Thank you my friend, I am glad you liked it.

[Garret00074]

I wish we had more recordings of poets reading their poetry...It is so illuminating..

[perpetuo27]

There's a BEAUTIFUL musical setting of this Yeats poem, "Lake Isle of Innisfree", written by the American composer Ben Moore in 200l, published by G. Schirmer. It's superb!

[brychar66]

Thanks. I'd like to hear that. Especially if YOU sing it. Regards, Chas.

[kenlo9]

i like how im studying for my final out of this...

[camelot45]

i really dislike the whole singing of the poems.i mean

when we read them

are we meant to read them liek that

it makes no sense...evn tho he explains it somewhat

...some one get back to me plz?

[brychar66]

the simple answer is that you should read the poems in whatever way seems natural to you.

[APTAPTAPT]

i dont think so. now, would you agree that words are historical? as are tones. but i admit to a bent for the unnatural. you seem to know a lot of poetry.

[mossfitz]

Yeats´ pre-war accent may be a little hard to take - a sort of special Irish literary idiom - but the slow pace is absolutely essential. There is an American tradition that treats poetry as prose which is grotesque when used for Yeats (plenty of examples on youtube). There is always something of incantation there.

[brychar66]

Some people read poetry as though ashamed of its music, embarrassed. It needs the full musical treatment - something I always strive for in my own readings. Not over the top, but with resonance and musical shading, sounding all the syllables. Thanks for that comment.

[gatesofoak]

as there is in this, your incantation

[Megawisca]

Immortal voice -- immortal words

Thanks you for posting this.

[stacyblue1980]

LOVE this man so much! The best. This isnt my favorite poem of his but it IS cool to hear him. God bless him. Thanx 4 posting!

[alejandre321]

What a treasure - readings by the poet himself!!! Thank you brychar66 for sharing it.

[brychar66]

My pleasure Alejandre.

[NanMatau]

"peace comes dropping slow"

Truer words have rarely been spoken.

[TheRavenOfPoe]

I did not know of these recordings before - what a wonderful historical record to hear such a poet reading his own work. Thank you very much for posting this =)

[LeanneMelody]

im related to william, and i have the same last name

most of the men in our family are named will william, bill or billy

my fater being on of them

[APTAPTAPT]

is that so LeanneMelody? very distant relative? have any old anecdotes you feel comfortable sharing? the individual. it must be hard to imagine him as a man; he lent himself so easily to the legendary.

[shakeystevensVIII]

Poetry = delightful.

[ColdChicago]

willie yeats is now long dead

pass by and do forget

he backed the blue shirts

to his shame

perhaps it was some old prot game

but he wrote pure poetry

and for this his name blessed be

so bless him in his eloquence

for his politics not two pence

[rimatore]

That's very good, Cold Chi--spot on.  Is it yers?

Horseman, pass by.

[mohakom]

what is the title of the poem w.b yeats is reading from.......answer please.???

[ALFV8]

It's "The Lake Isle of Innishfree", which he wrote. There are other readings by others to the right which have better clarity in the recording. Inspired by this poem and the actual Isle, Richard Farrelly wrote the song, Isle of Innishfree in 1949. It was featured in the movie, "The Quiet Man". The poem and song are quite different, but have similar themes.

[catbirdtree]

Oi! I'll have you know I'm a teacher of literature to the damnable inheritors of 'magic money' annoyingly enough; but with a job in much more cultural Bogota in August, I can continue to adore this beautiful country. I imagine you're aroundabouts Oxfordshire or Berkshire near my folks' house in Mill End. Well, weathewise, it's been sunny again, but with the looked-for breeze of these balmy winter months that make it possible to go walking without dying from heatstroke and embarrassing sweat.

[catbirdtree]

Andrew Cleary, para servirle. It was a treat to bathe in Cortot's glacial piano here on the sultry coast. Mind you, there are many places as far removed from pavements grey as the Lake Isle not too far from here, so I remain.

[brychar66]

haha, the man of mystery - presumably in the hotel trade? it's dark and raining here and I can imagine nothing nicer than a sultry coast with lots of Lake Isles all around - Chas.

[nd017]

"the good are always the merry" - fantastic!

[catbirdtree]

Ha! After hearing Maggie Teyte I fancied seeing if there was anything by the auld fella on Youtube. So thanks again Charles!

[brychar66]

My pleasure! Are you Irish then, exiled to Colombia?

[somedecency]

Thank you for this

[brychar66]

My pleasure. Yeats is one of the very greatest poets in our tradition - and these recordings show that he saw things as they are (and were) when so many other more clever people failed to apprehend the true state of modern poetry.

[negrocastro4]

amazing, one thing is to read a poem and the other is to hear the poem being read by the poet himself

[kitty776]

thanks for posting this

[bafr1]

excellent , exactly what youtube is for , amazing , you are 5 ***** and i fav and ui will subcribe

[brychar66]

Thank you. There really is no one quite like W.B. I am glad to hear you reading him. I did his Byzantium myself it's in my vids.

[peskirabbit]

Amazing to hear the poets own voice and intonation for these.....so atmospheric

[richardyingren]

I heard this on a radio three programme (perhaps very like it) 'Visiting Greatness' - a biography of Ezra Pound.