W.B Yeats' best poems

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  • Опубліковано 5 чер 2024
  • 9 of the best poems by Irish poet W.B. Yeats.
    William Butler Yeats (13 June 1865 - 28 January 1939) was an Irish poet, dramatist, prose writer and one of the foremost figures of 20th-century literature. He was a driving force behind the Irish Literary Revival and became a pillar of the Irish literary establishment who helped to found the Abbey Theatre, and in his later years served two terms as a Senator of the Irish Free State.
    Subscribe here for more videos - tinyurl.com/2p9hjxbs
    This channel aims to upload high quality videos relating to all kinds of literature (Poetry, novels, etc.)
    1. When You Are Old
    Music - Sad Reflection and Grief Piano by MusicLFiles
    Link: filmmusic.io/song/8272-sad-re...
    License: filmmusic.io/standard-license
    2. The Second Coming
    Music - Horizon Flare by Alexander Nakarada
    Link: filmmusic.io/song/4837-horizo...
    License: filmmusic.io/standard-license
    3. Leda and the Swan
    Music - Gymnopedie No. 1 by Kevin MacLeod
    Link: filmmusic.io/song/3837-gymnop...
    License: filmmusic.io/standard-license
    4. The Lake Isle of Innisfree
    Music - www.bensound.com
    5. Easter 1916
    Music - Despair and Triumph by Kevin MacLeod
    Link: filmmusic.io/song/3641-despai...
    License: filmmusic.io/standard-license
    6. An Irish Airman Foresees his Death
    Music - Cold Melancholic Autumn by MusicLFiles
    Link: filmmusic.io/song/6301-cold-m...
    License: filmmusic.io/standard-license
    7. The Wild Swans at Coole
    Music - Touching Moments Four - Melody by Kevin MacLeod
    Link: filmmusic.io/song/4536-touchi...
    License: filmmusic.io/standard-license
    8. The Song of Wandering Aengus
    Music - Horizon Flare by Alexander Nakarada
    Link: filmmusic.io/song/4837-horizo...
    License: filmmusic.io/standard-license
    9. He Wishes for the Clothes of Heaven
    Music - www.bensound.com

КОМЕНТАРІ • 141

  • @dvl889
    @dvl889 Рік тому +16

    “Tread softly because you tread on my dreams…”

  • @jbyeats
    @jbyeats 7 місяців тому +27

    There are Poets -- and then there is William Butler Yeats - a giant among them all .

    • @Goawaypleasenow
      @Goawaypleasenow 3 місяці тому +2

      Like Wordsworth
      There will NEVER be poets to ever walk this earth like their kinds again

    • @djkelleher3557
      @djkelleher3557 2 місяці тому

      So very, very true ❤

  • @johnshanley83
    @johnshanley83 9 місяців тому +20

    Easter 1916 is such a terrifying poem. What a masterpiece

  • @nayanendumisra6764
    @nayanendumisra6764 2 місяці тому +2

    I don't consider myself to be competent to comment on the great poetry by such a great poet, WB Yeats. However I have enjoyed listening to his poetry. I salute him. 🎉❤😂

  • @mikeyates7931
    @mikeyates7931 11 місяців тому +15

    Life lasts but a little time ,
    In both the heart and in the mind .
    A fleeting gift from up above ,
    The only thing worth the while is LOVE .
    For where there is LOVE there is surely life ,
    And where there is not there is but pain and strife .
    And hell is not some pit filled with fire and dread ,
    Hell is living on after your LOVE is dead .
    The pain cuts right to the very bone ,
    And though I walk among you I am always alone .
    And so I wait with baited breath ,
    For the sweet release of death .
    For only death can set me free ,
    Only death can end my misery .

    • @barrymoore4470
      @barrymoore4470 10 місяців тому +4

      Wonderfully evocative poem. I'm unfamiliar with it. Is this one by Yeats, or perchance one you yourself composed?

    • @sharoncravenor2226
      @sharoncravenor2226 18 днів тому +1

      So true.

    • @mikeyates7931
      @mikeyates7931 18 днів тому +1

      @@barrymoore4470 This is one of my own poems

  • @gabrielsmiley5067
    @gabrielsmiley5067 Рік тому +75

    Liam Neeson's voice is divine🥺. He read "Easter" to perfection❤️

    • @JerrySmith-ih9rd
      @JerrySmith-ih9rd Рік тому +2

      Yes. It’s a very powerful poem.

    • @marinacatanese1029
      @marinacatanese1029 Рік тому +2

      Thank you for these wonderful readings...listening in a rainy night,in Italy

    • @bluemoon472
      @bluemoon472 8 місяців тому

      Indeed. Brilliant.

    • @HeatherValentineMsFoodie
      @HeatherValentineMsFoodie 7 місяців тому +2

      This is Cillian Murphy 💝👍 from Peaky Blinders NOT Liam Nielsen

    • @seumasrouse8590
      @seumasrouse8590 7 місяців тому +3

      Since when did Cillian Murphy have an Ulster accent? And who the hell’s Liam Nielsen ? Is he from Tyrone perchance?

  • @rmleighton1
    @rmleighton1 Рік тому +25

    Thank you for gathering all these readings in one convenient place. Richard in Canada.

  • @Eazy-ERyder
    @Eazy-ERyder 6 місяців тому +13

    How wonderfully read these epic masterpieces of poetic art are. I love his work.

    • @concars1234
      @concars1234 5 місяців тому

      I could read em better

  • @Goawaypleasenow
    @Goawaypleasenow 3 місяці тому +1

    It took me many years and life pain and a dark soul of the night to truly understand The Second Coming. It’s so beautiful.

  • @MDCB1
    @MDCB1 3 місяці тому +4

    Gratitude

  • @helenamcginty4920
    @helenamcginty4920 7 місяців тому +4

    When my son was small he loved to hear When you are old. I think it was the slow, lullaby rythm.
    He has, sadly, learned from schooldays to despise poetry. Even baulking at my gift of Saemus Heaney's translation of Beowulf.
    I fear that now he is middke aged he will never regain his early love.

    • @ks7263
      @ks7263 7 місяців тому +2

      I’m imagining the little fellow listening to the words and it made me smile. I think at some point he will remember and he will treasure the memory of how he loved it.

  • @jeffreykalb9752
    @jeffreykalb9752 7 місяців тому +9

    "The Second Coming" is even more poignant now than when it was penned.

  • @janehankins8827
    @janehankins8827 Рік тому +12

    One more poem should be added to this beautiful collection: Sailing to Byzantium.

  • @edh6080
    @edh6080 Рік тому +9

    One of a kind how well spoken yes. So relatable.. soft spoken can't help but listen elegance

  • @larrylevy3962
    @larrylevy3962 Рік тому +17

    Exquisite poems, well read.

  • @janicewaddell9464
    @janicewaddell9464 Рік тому +15

    Beautiful. They are beautifully read.

  • @zareencave3349
    @zareencave3349 Рік тому +10

    Thoroughly enjoyed these readings.

  • @deanedge5988
    @deanedge5988 8 місяців тому +4

    Wonderful. The Song of Wandering Aengus is spine tingling however well you know it, Perfect selection although I would add In Memory Con Markowiz and Eva Gore-Booth a masterpiece.

  • @1961Lara
    @1961Lara 4 місяці тому +1

    Beautiful. All I am a pianist so I found the music to be equally beautiful as the poems.

  • @leftydad8
    @leftydad8 Рік тому +1

    These are fantastic

  • @michaelmoreskine9677
    @michaelmoreskine9677 7 місяців тому +1

    Simply fabulous

  • @RamonaMcKean
    @RamonaMcKean Рік тому +4

    Wonderful! Thank you.

  • @skonther0ck
    @skonther0ck Рік тому +2

    Well done. Thanks.

  • @patriciawardell5189
    @patriciawardell5189 Рік тому +8

    Beautiful, thank you.

  • @darkangelkate3950
    @darkangelkate3950 7 місяців тому

    Thank you for this video. ❤

  • @jenrutherford6690
    @jenrutherford6690 Рік тому +5

    Lovely thank you .

  • @Brigitte9966
    @Brigitte9966 Рік тому +3

    This is brilliant 🤩

  • @gregruland1934
    @gregruland1934 7 місяців тому +2

    Perfect editing. Timely. Well done. Thank you.

  • @evelyntan5588
    @evelyntan5588 3 місяці тому

    Thank you.

  • @DannyDake-ff8fz
    @DannyDake-ff8fz 4 місяці тому

    This is amazing

  • @desilvamarline5041
    @desilvamarline5041 Рік тому +2

    Like the voice behind the readings.

  • @marissaclaridge7627
    @marissaclaridge7627 Місяць тому

    Wonderful❤

  • @madanthakuria6047
    @madanthakuria6047 11 місяців тому +1

    Perfect ❤️

  • @marylkap6498
    @marylkap6498 18 днів тому

    "When you are old" Cilian Murphy ❤❤❤

  • @erinzgirl66
    @erinzgirl66 Рік тому +4

    Liam Neeson Easter 1916 to perfection .

  • @agoodlife2
    @agoodlife2 6 місяців тому

    Well done

  • @barbarahitchko9688
    @barbarahitchko9688 4 місяці тому

    Perfection 💕

  • @Cinderella227
    @Cinderella227 5 місяців тому

    The White Birds
    I would that we were, my beloved, white birds on the foam of the sea!
    We tire of the flame of the meteor, before it can fade and flee;
    And the flame of the blue star of twilight, hung low on the rim of the sky,
    Has awakened in our hearts, my beloved, a sadness that may not die.
    A weariness comes from those dreams, dew-dabbled, the lily and rose;
    Ah, dream not of them, my beloved the flame of the meteor that goes,
    Or the flame of the blue star that lingers hung low in the fall of the dew:
    For I would we were changed to white birds on the wandering foam: I and you! - W.B. Yeats
    Love Yeats poetry. ✝️❤️

  • @thomasdoyle850
    @thomasdoyle850 3 місяці тому

    I just wanted to hear it again with out the lecture

  • @biggles5633
    @biggles5633 7 місяців тому +5

    I recognise "When I am old" as being Cillian Murphy. I recognise Jeremy Irons as the reciter of "Leda and the Swan". Magnificent recitals both. Liam Neeson recites "Easter 1916" beautifully. Is it James Stewart, the Actor who recites "The Wild Swans at Coole"? I can see the face of the reader of "The Song of Wandering Aengus" but fail to recall the name. Sadly I can not recognise any others.
    Wonderful collection. Thank you

    • @michaelgaskell7408
      @michaelgaskell7408 7 місяців тому +1

      You're supposed to listen to the poems,not guess who the readers are.The English can't read Irish poetry,as proven by the second reader.

    • @biggles5633
      @biggles5633 7 місяців тому +1

      Oh but I did! Very much so! I know these poems ... and take joy at how the special treatment of each and every recital voice may affect the impact, the meaning through the delivery of the words. Attaching the voice to an individual helps even more when one knows their work on the stage or screen.
      Strange that you feel or claim to know what my takeaway from these works are; I guess you have ESP or are an expert in mental telepathy.
      With such a limited view, may I suggest you stick to television.

    • @genghisthegreat2034
      @genghisthegreat2034 6 місяців тому

      Sam Neill on Inishfree ?

  • @margefield8520
    @margefield8520 8 місяців тому +26

    I wish there was a list of the readers' names.

    • @trickster6669
      @trickster6669 2 місяці тому

      Well I can take a wild guess at the fifth one 😅

  • @Tammamtellawi
    @Tammamtellawi Рік тому +2

    I wonder why is there only few subscribers in this great channel!?

  • @TimG1
    @TimG1 Рік тому +11

    Really love this post but would love it more if you add the readers' names to the credits!

    • @wellread8320
      @wellread8320  Рік тому +8

      Jesus Christ Tim I tried my best, I really tried my best, Jesus Christ Tim

  • @ellenchace3507
    @ellenchace3507 7 місяців тому

    goosebumps

  • @williamjamesjr.1573
    @williamjamesjr.1573 7 місяців тому

    Poem is a feeling

  • @richarddamasco4979
    @richarddamasco4979 Місяць тому

    For those who wish to reach the wall in early days.,..can only be done
    Through a true fasting
    😊❤😊

  • @DannyDake-ff8fz
    @DannyDake-ff8fz 4 місяці тому

    Wow 🎉

  • @helenamcginty4920
    @helenamcginty4920 7 місяців тому

    He missed my all time favourite, The Cold Heaven.

  • @ruhaan580
    @ruhaan580 Рік тому +4

    Cillian murphy when you are old

  • @kylelooper2156
    @kylelooper2156 7 місяців тому

    "Among School Children" and "Sailing to Byzantium" didn't make the top ten? I demand a recount!

  • @user-uq3fi5wr2c
    @user-uq3fi5wr2c 7 місяців тому

    I forgot how good he was...years ago I wrote about his resting place under Ben bulbin

  • @Califokie12
    @Califokie12 7 місяців тому

    Yeats, bourbon, a dying fire and a starless windy night in the mid south of North America.
    Oh God this is good. Yeats. Yes. Oh yes. Very good indeed.

  • @user-mh3kp7we7i
    @user-mh3kp7we7i 4 місяці тому

    ❤❤❤❤❤

  • @JackT13
    @JackT13 10 місяців тому

    Could anyone please tell me which version of Gymnopedie no.1 is playing over Leda and the Swan? The one linked is incorrect. Thanks!

  • @janmcintyre8595
    @janmcintyre8595 Рік тому +5

    Thank you! At last! The Song of Wandering Aengus and He Wishes For The Cloths of Heaven (two extremely special poems for me) are read similarly to how I like to phrase them so am surprised when renditions that lack the space and emotion. Do you know who reads those two?

    • @cusack4482
      @cusack4482 Рік тому

      Try this for a beauty
      ua-cam.com/video/BYb-qOKKC0E/v-deo.html

    • @espadasagrada6573
      @espadasagrada6573 Рік тому

      The song of wandering... in which book can i read it ??? Thanks !

    • @janmcintyre8595
      @janmcintyre8595 Рік тому +1

      It was originally published in "The Wind Among The Reeds", but it would be in many collections, I think.

    • @espadasagrada6573
      @espadasagrada6573 Рік тому +1

      @@janmcintyre8595 Thank you so much 💙🐦

    • @TheBarmbrackthecat
      @TheBarmbrackthecat 8 місяців тому +1

      @@espadasagrada6573 do you want to hear it sung also? Christy Moore does and awesome version

  • @motivation.monkey
    @motivation.monkey 2 місяці тому

    GOOD

  • @SimonPaxton_VO
    @SimonPaxton_VO 3 місяці тому

    One of Yeats' poems most arresting poems has to be 'Aedh -He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven' - beautifully touching on the realm of unfulfilled desire and the impact that love can have on our fragile hearts. Simon Paxton has recorded it here: ua-cam.com/video/vGioFVgtvGU/v-deo.html

  • @gpry236
    @gpry236 8 місяців тому +3

    Who read When you are old? It's a beautiful performance.

  • @ArmCavTrooper
    @ArmCavTrooper 6 місяців тому

    Among School Children -- maybe Yeats' masterpiece.

  • @Bo-tz4nw
    @Bo-tz4nw 18 днів тому

    Also well worth, check out Mike Scott's great record

  • @boxfox2945
    @boxfox2945 Рік тому +1

    A bit' to much music, but' it's alright. Good narration, clear' & understandable.

  • @jwsuicides8095
    @jwsuicides8095 8 місяців тому +1

    OK. We need to have a wrestling match about their order, etc. ;)
    I've been to where he's buried and it is a fitting memorial. The church has been part of his family's professional preaching history.

  • @SergiiStarodubtsev
    @SergiiStarodubtsev Місяць тому

    I wish there was no music put, otherwise nice reading

  • @HerrrTantris
    @HerrrTantris 6 місяців тому

    I agree, the music distracts...

  • @gw8147
    @gw8147 Рік тому +3

    Excellent set of readings. Pity about the soulless set of adverts in the middle of " The Lake Isle Of Innisfree " Typical UA-cam, I'd almost sware they did it deliberately.

  • @mermaidmersea7113
    @mermaidmersea7113 Рік тому +8

    I wish Cillian Murphy, read them all! 0:06

    • @ronnieince4568
      @ronnieince4568 Рік тому +1

      Adrian Dunbar was one if the readers

    • @erinzgirl66
      @erinzgirl66 Рік тому

      Liam Neeson with Cillian.
      Murphy, Irish voices only.

  • @sitahcummings1424
    @sitahcummings1424 11 місяців тому +2

    the readings are moving. the music is unrelenting and distracting. Any thoughts on giving us listeners an option to mute the music??

  • @KimberlyFulghum-uw3zj
    @KimberlyFulghum-uw3zj 6 місяців тому

    The reader of Lake Isle of Innisfree has changed the words of Yeats’ poem.

  • @jwsuicides8095
    @jwsuicides8095 8 місяців тому +2

    Can we acknowledge that Estuary English and Yeats are not compatible?

    • @jwsuicides8095
      @jwsuicides8095 8 місяців тому

      I'm referring to The Second Coming reading, btw.

  • @TheSaltydog07
    @TheSaltydog07 7 місяців тому

    We were all bonny once.

  • @Allen2saint
    @Allen2saint 7 місяців тому +2

    Why don’t you post the readers name?

  • @Rue747
    @Rue747 7 місяців тому

    Does anyone know who read When You are Old? I think I'm in love.

  • @charlespeterson3798
    @charlespeterson3798 Рік тому +1

    Leda, and her swan, an indifferent beak and that randy rascal Will. .. ...

  • @keithwalker6892
    @keithwalker6892 7 місяців тому

    I must arise and go now etc

  • @lynngilbert1596
    @lynngilbert1596 7 місяців тому

    translated from Ronsard.

  • @mistervacation23
    @mistervacation23 2 місяці тому +1

    What's that poem about a farmer standing on a bridge shooting at the British? That's a good one I never liked the British

  • @carolinapera6024
    @carolinapera6024 8 місяців тому

    We need translation to Portuguese or Spanish, please.

  • @geraldinetoner4967
    @geraldinetoner4967 Рік тому +3

    Can anyone identify the readers please 🙏?

    • @BGKsenija
      @BGKsenija Рік тому +1

      Yes pls if anyone knows pls share

    • @adriannapatterson2987
      @adriannapatterson2987 Рік тому +2

      I am not sure about all of them, but I'm fairly certain that Leda and the swan is read by Benedict Cumberbatch, and Easter is read by Liam Neeson. I'm sorry I couldn't be more help!

    • @zuliacha9306
      @zuliacha9306 8 місяців тому +1

      When You are Old by Cillian Murphy
      Easter by Liam Neeson

    • @belpit66
      @belpit66 7 місяців тому

      Leda and the Swan is read by Jeremy Irons.

  • @MariaJose-tl4pz
    @MariaJose-tl4pz 2 місяці тому

    🫂💤❄️🕊️🤍

  • @erinzgirl66
    @erinzgirl66 Рік тому +2

    Where is The Stolen Child?

    • @jimnewcombe7584
      @jimnewcombe7584 Рік тому

      That isn't among his best. Where, however, is Sailing to Byzantium, Byzantium, and Among School Children?

    • @barrymoore4470
      @barrymoore4470 10 місяців тому +2

      @@jimnewcombe7584 Even though "The Stolen Child" is not mature Yeats, it's still a wonderful, beguiling work. Agree about the other poems cited deserving inclusion as well. With such a great poet as Yeats, it's hard to whittle down his legacy to a mere handful of masterpieces.

  • @jonbates9386
    @jonbates9386 7 місяців тому +1

    As a musician and soundtrack composer - why do you need music for these wonderful words? Would you add that to Shakespeare? It's distracting - let the poetry do its job!

    • @wellread8320
      @wellread8320  4 місяці тому

      Shut up weirdo, there's plenty of readings of his poetry on UA-cam without music. Some people prefer music in the background so I went through the bother of putting together a compilation with music. To you and everyone else who doesn't like the music, just search for other readings and most of them won't have music. Moron.

  • @ImogenC-rt3fm
    @ImogenC-rt3fm 7 місяців тому

    Where are you?

  • @Redcrossdwarf
    @Redcrossdwarf 8 місяців тому +1

    Innisfree... Thats what happens when you dont catch bent coppers!

  • @stephencharlton2024
    @stephencharlton2024 7 місяців тому +1

    No readers names, pity

  • @Eisenkieffer
    @Eisenkieffer 7 місяців тому +14

    These readers are exquisite. I must add for my part, that the musical accompaniment is banal and even distracting from the art of those readers.

    • @stephenhardy312
      @stephenhardy312 6 місяців тому +1

      Yes, I tend to agree; I find the videos featuring infant macaque monkeys is a case in point.❤ The music just spoils the❤ natural sounds of the little monkeys and of their immediate environment.

    • @axismundi8
      @axismundi8 4 місяці тому

      The reading of poetry is it's own music. These inappropriate musical backgrounds are an irritating interference and disrespectful of the poetry. I understand they mean well but it's just plain wrong.

    • @Alwayz1999
      @Alwayz1999 3 місяці тому

      @@axismundi8I’m just grateful these gems are still being appreciated and available ❤

    • @oelolop2136
      @oelolop2136 Місяць тому

      I would have to disagree, the mood and ambiance set by the music is amazing. More so in the rests between pieces it gives you something to listen while thinking.

  • @StephenLyons-tl8ie
    @StephenLyons-tl8ie 5 місяців тому

    Begorrah and bedad! Dems moighty noice pomes, is dem

  • @elizabetha.richter4073
    @elizabetha.richter4073 7 місяців тому

    Aren’t these all Yeats early poems? That’s dull.

  • @TheYurubutugralb
    @TheYurubutugralb 7 місяців тому

    Biden cited today Easter 1916

  • @peterberryman9821
    @peterberryman9821 7 місяців тому +1

    Don't need the mawkish piano.

  • @jill56297
    @jill56297 4 місяці тому

    Lose the music

  • @pavlidesgeorge848
    @pavlidesgeorge848 2 місяці тому +1

    WISH NO MUSIC ADDED SO COULD HEAR BETTER TOO AAAAAHHHHH

  • @hellie_el
    @hellie_el 9 місяців тому

    ❤❤❤❤❤