Michael Robartes and the Dancer

work by Yeats

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June 30, 2026

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Michael Robartes and the Dancer is a collection of poems by William Butler Yeats, published in 1921. It includes the poem "Easter 1916," which commemorates the Irish nationalists who participated in the Easter Rising of 1916. The collection explores themes of heroism, fanaticism, and the tension between idealism and reality, reflecting Yeats's engagement with the turbulent history of Ireland. The poems within this collection are noted for their mature style, combining passion with precision and powerful symbolism, and often touching upon public themes while also reflecting on creativity and the individual's place in history.12

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Easter 1916
…in 1916 and collected in Michael Robartes and the Dancer (1921). It commemorates the martyrs of the Easter Rising, an insurrection against the British government in Ireland in 1916, which resulted in the execution of several Irish nationalists whom Yeats knew personally.
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…in 1916 and collected in Michael Robartes and the Dancer (1921). It commemorates the martyrs of the Easter Rising, an insurrection against the British government in Ireland in 1916, which resulted in the execution of several Irish nationalists whom Yeats knew personally.
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English literature
Celtic Modernism: Yeats, Joyce, Jones, and MacDiarmid
…Wild Swans at Coole (1917), Michael Robartes and the Dancer (1921), The Tower (1928), and The Winding Stair (1929) derived in large measure from the way in which (caught up by the violent discords of contemporary Irish history) he accepted the fact that his idealized Ireland was illusory. At its…
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…Wild Swans at Coole (1917), Michael Robartes and the Dancer (1921), The Tower (1928), and The Winding Stair (1929) derived in large measure from the way in which (caught up by the violent discords of contemporary Irish history) he accepted the fact that his idealized Ireland was illusory. At its…
Read More