What I admire about Yeats is how he combined a love for the old Irish legends and culture with contemporary styles and issues. Too often we either live in the past or act as if the current world is all that there is.
He was deeply involved in life, serving in the newly-formed Republic of Ireland (and was Protestant, I add, putting to rest one stereotype). The Nobel Prize for Literature was deserved.
http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1923/yeats-bio.html
Yeats reads one of my favorite poems: when I hear this, I can hear Mr. McGuire, my 9th grade English teacher!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLlcvQg9i6c
Hamilton Camp set the poem to music, and Judy Collins sings it beautifully! I love the interplay between words, music and voice, especially when it is transgenerational.
Another another poem of his, sung by Judy:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alIUW_JY03I
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TleIuj9xIYE
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