About William Butler Yeats
William Butler Yeats (1865–1939) was an Irish poet and dramatist. Born and educated in Dublin, he studied poetry in his youth and, from an early age, was fascinated by Irish legend and the occult. He was a driving force behind the Irish Literary Revival. He is generally considered one of the twentieth century’s key English language poets. He was a Symbolist poet, in that he used allusive imagery and symbolic structures throughout his career. In 1923 he was awarded a Nobel Prize in Literature for what the Nobel Committee described as “inspired poetry, which in a highly artistic form gives expression to the spirit of a whole nation.” He was the first Irishman so honored. He is generally considered one of the few writers who completed their greatest works after being awarded the Nobel Prize; such works include The Tower (1928) and The Winding Stair and Other Poems (1929).
About the Narrators
Siobhán McKenna (1923–1986) was an Irish stage and screen
actress. She also appeared in several films including King of Kings and Doctor Zhivago.
Cyril
Cusack (1910-1993) was an Irish actor whose film and television
career lasted over seventy years. He appeared with the Royal Shakespeare
Company for several season and established a successful career in film in both
English and Irish cinema.