The Collected Works in Verse and Prose of William Butler Yeats, Vol. 8 (of 8) / Discoveries. Edmund Spenser. Poetry and Tradition; and Other Essays. Bibliography

A compact collection of essays blending literary criticism, theatrical memoir, and cultural reflection. The author examines poetic tradition and symbolism, offers close readings of earlier poets such as Edmund Spenser, critiques contemporary drama and playwrights including Lady Gregory and J. M. Synge, and reflects on the artist’s social role as prophet, priest, and king. Short pieces probe saints, asceticism, the religious foundations of symbolic art, and the bodily energies that give drama its force. Personal anecdotes about performances, convents, and provincial audiences illuminate broader arguments about reconnecting imaginative life with ordinary people, and the volume closes with brief critical notes and a bibliography.