The Collected Letters of W. B. Yeats: Volume III: 1901-1904

The first two volumes of Yeats's collected letters met with enormous critical acclaim. This third, like the others, presents the letters complete with characteristic misspellings and peculiar punctuation, and gives a full flavour of his idiosyncrasy and haste as a correspondent. The letters are in themselves fascinating and highly revealing of the man behind the poetry. They show both the political fervour and the poetic sensibility, and represent Yeats as friend, adversary, critic, and man passionately involved in the state of Ireland, culturally and politically. These are the years which saw the setting-up of the Abbey Theatre in Dublin, as the permanent home of the Irish National Theatre Company run by his friends the Fays.

Annotation is particularly full and far-reaching, supplying a wealth of hitherto unresearched information about the background to the letters, and in itself adding very considerably to what is known of Yeats and his circle. There is a biographical register of the main figures who appear in the volume, and a full index.