''Responsibilities and Other Poems'' is a work written by

William Butler Yeats William Butler Yeats (13 June 186528 January 1939) was an Irish poet, dramatist, 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 liter ...

Publication history

''Responsibilities and a Play'' was printed and published by Yeats's sister, Elizabeth Corbet Yeats, at the

Cuala Press The Cuala Press was an Irish private press set up in 1908 by Elizabeth Yeats with support from her brother William Butler Yeats that played an important role in the Celtic Revival of the early 20th century. Originally Dun Emer Press, from 1908 ...

in 1914. 400 copies were published. The work contained thirty one poems and a new version of the play ''The Hour Glass'', which was originally written in collaboration with Lady Gregory, but now presented in a new version. ''Responsibilities and Other Poems'' was published by

Macmillan MacMillan, Macmillan, McMillen or McMillan may refer to: People * McMillan (surname) * Clan MacMillan, a Highland Scottish clan * Harold Macmillan, British statesman and politician * James MacMillan, Scottish composer * William Duncan MacMillan ...

in 1916. This trade edition contained one new poem “The Well and the Tree,” which was subsequently removed from the sequence to become part of the play, ''At the Hawk’s Well''. This work also included some poems from the ''Green Helmet and Other Poems'' (1910) and the 1913 poems from ''Poems Written in Discouragement.''

Literary significance

Beginning in 1895 with ''Poems'' and in 1899 with ''The Wind among the Reeds'' Yeats published poems typically with a dreamlike atmosphere and replete with reference to Irish folklore and legends. ''The Green Helmet'' of 1910 contained little of the Celtic influence of his earlier poems. The other world had all but disappeared with his publication of ''Responsibilities and a Play''. The ''Responsibilities'' poems signify a transition turning point for Yeats from the dreamworld of the Celtic Twilight to the harsh realities of the modern day. He sums it up in the poem "September 1913" written about the worker's strike in Dublin: "Romantic Ireland's dead and gone." Those realities included the attacks on Maude Gonne and himself by George Moore; The Hugh Lane controversy; the workers’ strike of 1913 and his support of the working man and James Connolly; Parnell; and the fuss over The Playboy of the Western World.. The poems are political and personal. ''Responsibilities'' begins with Yeats’ obscure and anonymous epigraph attributed to “an old play”: “In dreams begins responsibility.” His next epigraph is from Confucius and refers to the Prince of Chang, the founder of the Second Dynasty, perhaps signifying a new dynasty for Yeats himself. These are announcements of a new direction for Yeats. His introductory matter continues with a poems referring to the Butler family, a veiled response to the criticisms of George Moore. The collection ends with a poem referring to with George Moore as a post passing dogs defile.

References

Irish literature 1914 poetry books Poetry by W. B. Yeats Irish poetry collections {{poetry-stub