W.B. Yeats (1865-1939) was not only Ireland's greatest poet but one of the most influential voices in world literature in the twentieth century. His extraordinary work, in the words of this volume's editor Seamus Heaney, encourages us to be more resolutely and abundantly alive, whatever the conditions. Other volumes in this series include: "Auden", "Betjemen", "Eliot", "Hughes", and "Plath".