Metapoetry in Selected Works of W.B. Yeats

This study examines selected works of William Butler Yeats within the framework of metapoetry, a concept that simply refers to poetry written about poetry. The analysed works include “The Balloon of The Mind,” “Coole Park and Ballylee, 1931,” “Adam’s Curse,” “The Circus Animals’ Desertion,” “Ego Dominus Tuus,” “A Coat,” and “Meditation in Time of War.” Additionally, W.H. Auden’s “In Memory of W.B. Yeats,” written in tribute to Yeats, is also analysed in this context. Focusing on the metapoetic self-reflexivity in these works, this study explores Yeats’ poetic consciousness manifests through his engagement with the creative process. It further investigates traces of the poet’s ongoing engagement with his own psyche and creative process. By employing metapoetic elements, Yeats not only reflects on the nature of poetry and the act of creation but also exposes the tension between traditional poetic forms and modernist experimentation. The study also examines how metapoetry can emerge not only in explicitly metapoetic works but also in more seemingly ordinary poems, reflecting Yeats’ significant engagement with this concept. In doing so, it emphasizes how metapoetic themes deepen the self-questioning power of poetry and illuminates the essence of the creative process.