Four lyric books of William Butler Yeats.

It would be against all reason and evidence to maintain that biography is not important, particularly in studying Yeats. But this student has become impatient with critics who allow Yeats's life and influences to overshadow his poems and even to replace them. One looks for critical discussion of a poem and finds its genesis instead. Its poetic history may be essential to the understanding of the poem, but it will not by itself direct a reader's mind. Therefore, while one cannot ignore such persistent ghosts as Maud Gonne and Ezra Pound, one can sum up their and Yeats's activities during the relevant period and put biography aside for the time being