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Jun 12, 2015 · Jane Ciabattari explains how WB Yeats still shapes the English language – 150 years later. His influence on today’s writers may be as great as Shakespeare’s.
A Dramatic Shift. In poems such as “Adam’s Curse,” Yeats’s earlier, more formal and elevated language of Romanticism begins to evolve into a more colloquial and direct style of speech. This shift continued after Yeats met the highly influential poet and critic Ezra Pound in 1909.
William Butler Yeats (1865-1939) stands at the turning point between the Victorian period and Modernism, the conflicting currents of which affected his poetry. Born in Dublin, Yeats’ family moved to London when he was two and he lived there until he was sixteen.
