Contextual Examination To holistically understand Yeats poetry, it is necessary to familiarise yourself with Irish history, life and education

as well as the thematic inclusion of magic and mythology that crafted his visionary nature of his poetry. Yeats successfully explains the gradual decline into material chaos brought forth by a neglect of spiritual values. This is done through an integration of philosophical ideas, more specifically Neo-Platonism and spiritualism1. He sought to allow critics to view his works as an escape from reality, whilst others sought to distinguish his poetry from his magical and occult interests. Much of his work is based on diversified interests and partial knowledge of his philosophies. His major influences include: The Occult A reference to the knowledge of the hidden. Occultism is the term used to describe the study of occult practices including magic, alchemy2, extra-sensory perception, astrology, spiritualism and divination. Neo-Platonism Modern term for a school of religious and mystical philosophy that took shape in the 3rd Century AD, heavily based on the teachings and works of Plato. Focused heavily on the spiritual and cosmological aspects, synthesizing Platonism and Egyptian and Jewish theology. Hindu Upanishad Philosophical texts considered to be the early source of Hindu religion. Christianity Dominant religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus, evidenced much in the canonical gospels and other New Testament writings. Philosophy of Nietzsche Developed by Friedrich Nietzsche, purporting morality, religion, epistemology3, psychology, ontology and social criticism. Poems of William Blake

A beief system or religion, postulating the belief that spirits of the dead residing in the spirit would have the ability and inclination to communicate with the living. 2 Influential philosophical tradition whose early practitioners claims to profound powers was known from antiquity. Western antiquity is developed through modern chemistry and medicine. 3 The acquirement of knowledge or how do we know knowledge is knowledge.
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Seminal figure in the Romantic age, whose prophetic poetry was considered idiosyncratic delving into the themes of divinity and the human condition.

He also followed in the legacy of significant English poets including Milton, Blake, Coleridge and Shelley. Yeats Life and Education He was largely self-educated. His early childhood was largely influenced by his visits to his grandparents in Ireland. His mother was seen as a silent figure and he was raised by a selection of nurses quite ordinary in many of the middle and upper class of that time. His father bore eccentric ideas and because of this, schooling was seen to be unnecessary. His father used to read Shakespeare and Blakes poetry to him, thus rendering appropriate influences upon his work. At around tens year of age, he moved to London, enrolling into formal education at Godolphin Academy one that irrevocably authoritarian and repressive, whereby Yeats was unable to distinguish himself. Thus, he never won an accolade and was weak in Mathematics and French. Three years following, he returned to Ireland whereby he enrolled in Erasmus High School, enjoying a more pleasant experience. His schooling had in no way been a success and by the end of his formal schooling he had realized he had no inclination to attempt something that bored him.