Under Ben Bulben, Where Irish Poet William B. Yeats is Buried, Remains a Pilgrimage for Literary Tourists
Photo Courtesy of Ireland.com
W. B. Yeats, Ireland’s influential poet and writer, continues to inspire the world today with his poetry, prose and plays. His gravesite in County Sligo has become part of a pilgrimage literary tourists make to Ireland each year.
Yeats died at age 73 on January 28, 1939 in Mentone on the French Riviera, where he had gone to regain his health. The previous summer, Yeats wrote his final poem, "Under Ben Bulben," which gave instruction to his family and followers that he wanted to be buried in County Sligo, a place of inspiration throughout his life.
Photo Courtesy of Discover Ireland
The final stanza of his poem reads:
Under bare Ben Bulben’s head
In Drumcliff churchyard Yeats is laid.
An ancestor was rector there
Long years ago, a church stands near,
By the road an ancient cross.
No marble, no conventional phrase;
On limestone quarried near the spot
By his command these words are cut:
Cast a cold eye
On life, on death.
Horseman, pass by!
Born in Dublin on June 13, 1865, Yeats' family moved to County Sligo when he was a child, and growing up there inspired him to write numerous poems about the natural beauty and peace he discovered, including his most famous poem, "The Lake Isle of Innisfree." "Yeats called Sligo “The Land of Heart’s Desire” and it’s the beauty of the county that filled his early poetry," according to Ireland.com.
Photo Courtesy of the Poetry Foundation
Along with Lady Gregory, Yeats founded the Abbey Theatre in 1904 as a national theatre for Ireland. In 1923, Yeats won the Nobel Prize for Literature, “for his always inspired poetry, which in a highly artistic form gives expression to the spirit of a whole nation.”
Today, Year's poetry and prose live on in County Sligo, a place that remains a source of literary meaning for countless writers, poets and academics who travel there for inspiration and insight into the famous poet.
Read about Yeats' connections to Boston, where his first poems were published and which he visited several times in his life. Boston College has a significant W. B.Yeats collection at the Burns Library.
Find complete information about visiting Ireland at Ireland.com.
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