Research Article

Metapoetry in Selected Works of W.B. Yeats

Number: 31 March 21, 2025
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Metapoetry in Selected Works of W.B. Yeats

Abstract

This study examines selected works of William Butler Yeats within the framework of metapoetry, a concept that simply refers to poetry written about poetry. The analysed works include “The Balloon of The Mind,” “Coole Park and Ballylee, 1931,” “Adam’s Curse,” “The Circus Animals’ Desertion,” “Ego Dominus Tuus,” “A Coat,” and “Meditation in Time of War.” Additionally, W.H. Auden’s “In Memory of W.B. Yeats,” written in tribute to Yeats, is also analysed in this context. Focusing on the metapoetic self-reflexivity in these works, this study explores Yeats’ poetic consciousness manifests through his engagement with the creative process. It further investigates traces of the poet’s ongoing engagement with his own psyche and creative process. By employing metapoetic elements, Yeats not only reflects on the nature of poetry and the act of creation but also exposes the tension between traditional poetic forms and modernist experimentation. The study also examines how metapoetry can emerge not only in explicitly metapoetic works but also in more seemingly ordinary poems, reflecting Yeats’ significant engagement with this concept. In doing so, it emphasizes how metapoetic themes deepen the self-questioning power of poetry and illuminates the essence of the creative process.

Keywords

Thanks

I extend my gratitude to my academic supervisor, Assoc. Prof. Yiğit Sümbül, for his valuable insights shared during the poetry courses.

References

  1. Auden, W. H. (n.d.). In Memory of W.B. Yeats. AllPoetry. https://allpoetry.com/In-Memory-Of-W.B.-Yeats (Access date: 30.10.2024)
  2. Barthes, R. (1977). “The Death of the Author” in Image, Music, Text, trans. S. Heath. London: Fontana, pp. 142–148.
  3. Casas, A. (2011). “About Metapoetry and Performativity.” CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture, Vol. 13 Issue 5, pp. 1–9.
  4. Cave, T. (2016). Thinking with Literature Towards a Cognitive Criticism. Oxford University Press.
  5. Encyclopedia of Occultism & Parapsychology. (1984). Ed. Leslie Shepard, (2nd ed.) Detroit: Gale.
  6. Hasan, A. M. M. M. (2023). “The Modernist Movement in English Poetry: Focusing on T.S. Eliot, W.B. Yeats, and Ezra Pound””, International Journal of Academic Multidisciplinary Research (IJAMR), Vol. 7 Issue 6, pp. 182–187.
  7. Hirschberg, S. (1975). “A Dialogue Between Realism and Idealism in Yeats’s “Ego Dominus Tuus.” Colby Library Quarterly, Vol. 11, Issue 2, pp. 129–132.
  8. Jansco, D. 2019. Twentieth-Century Metapoetry and the Lyric Tradition. Berlin/Boston: De Gruyter.

Details

Primary Language

English

Subjects

British and Irish Language, Literature and Culture

Journal Section

Research Article

Early Pub Date

March 21, 2025

Publication Date

March 21, 2025

Submission Date

December 4, 2024

Acceptance Date

February 14, 2025

Published in Issue

Year 2025 Number: 31

APA
Azaklı, A. (2025). Metapoetry in Selected Works of W.B. Yeats. Dil Ve Edebiyat Araştırmaları, 31, 49-62. https://doi.org/10.30767/diledeara.1596158

Journal of Language and Literature Studies is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Licence (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).