First Advisor

John R. Cooper

Date of Publication

5-25-1977

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (M.A.) in English

Department

English

Language

English

Subjects

W. B. Yeats (William Butler) (1865-1939) -- Poetic works, Ben Jonson (1573?-1637) -- Influence

DOI

10.15760/etd.2609

Physical Description

1 online resource; digitized manuscript

Abstract

What this thesis attempts to do is to render as full a picture as possible of Yeats's interest in Ben Jonson, using to the fullest advantage the many hints that come from Yeats and secondary oriticism. Specifically, the focus of this paper is on the process by which Yeats was able, like Eliot, Pound and others, to found a tough, new poetic style with reference to this seventeenth-century period of Jonson. Yeats's reading of "Jonson and the others," which took place at the turn of this century, triggered a whole series of discoveries by Yeats which anticipated the aesthetic beliefs of his famous friends in the modern movement, whose later influence upon his poetry generally fortified poetic principles which had already found their way into his work. His early plays for the Abbey Theatre, for instance, demonstrate his call for a return to the "roots" of poet ic power that Synge associated with the best plays of Jonson and Moliere, and his poetry of that period demonstrates his first attempt at finding the "passionate syntax" of Jonson, Donne, Shakespeare and others.

Rights

In Copyright. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).

Persistent Identifier

http://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/16399

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