description Responsibilities Overview
W.B. Yeats’ Responsibilities is a significant 1914 poetry collection exploring themes of Irish nationalism and political upheaval through a modernist lens. Yeats' work in this volume reveals his increasing involvement with contemporary debates surrounding Ireland’s future. It remains relevant for readers interested in early 20th-century Irish literature, Yeats’ evolving philosophical views, and the intersection of art and politics.
insights Ranking position
Responsibilities ranks #212 of 687 in the Poetry Collection ranking, behind The Waste Land by T.S. Eliot, ahead of Two-Headed Woman.
help Responsibilities FAQ
Which famous Yeats poems appear in Responsibilities?
The 1914 collection includes "September 1913," "The Cold Heaven," "The Magi," and "A Coat." It also contains poems responding directly to Dublin politics and controversies around the Irish Literary Revival.
What does "In dreams begins responsibility" mean in the book?
Yeats places that sentence at the opening and attributes it to an unidentified "old play." The epigraph frames imagination as something that creates obligations, a concern reflected in the collection's arguments about art, public life, and Ireland.
Why does Yeats criticize Ireland in "September 1913"?
The poem responds to the cultural and political climate surrounding disputes such as the failed plan for a Dublin gallery associated with Hugh Lane. Yeats contrasts contemporary materialism with figures from Irish nationalist history, including John O'Leary.
How is Responsibilities different from Yeats's earlier Celtic Twilight poetry?
Its language is generally harder, more argumentative, and more public than the dreamlike style associated with The Wind Among the Reeds. "A Coat" even describes Yeats casting off the mythological embroidery that had covered his earlier work.
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