W.B. Yeats remains one of the most popular poets of the twentieth century. The poems in this selection are read by Jim Norton, Denys Hawthorne, Nicholas Boulton and Marcella Riordan
The Lake Isle of Innisfree, He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven, Down by the Salley Gardens, The Secret Rose - these are just a few of the poems that made W.B. Yeats an international figure. Born in Dublin in 1865, Yeats drew strength from the Irish tradition, as can be seen in this collection of some of his most important and well-known poems. His poetic urgency was fuelled by an active and varied life, as he drew his inspiration from the men and women he knew, classical sources and contemporary politics.