The Winding Stair is a volume of poems

Poetry

Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...

 by Irish

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

 poet

Poet

A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...

 William Butler Yeats

William Butler Yeats

William Butler Yeats was an Irish poet and playwright, and one of the foremost figures of 20th century literature. A pillar of both the Irish and British literary establishments, in his later years he served as an Irish Senator for two terms...

, published in 1933

1933 in poetry

Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* A. E. Housman delivers his influential Leslie Stephen lecture, "The Name and Nature of Poetry", in which he asserted that poetry's function is "to transfuse emotion—not to transmit thought but...

. It was the next new volume after 1928's The Tower

The Tower (book)

The Tower was a book of poems by William Butler Yeats, published in 1928.The title, which the book shares with the second poem, refers to the Thoor Ballylee castle which Yeats purchased and lived in for some time with his family....

. (The title poem was originally published in 1929 by Fountain Press in a signed limited edition, which is exceedingly rare.)

The title refers to the staircase in the Thoor Ballylee castle

Thoor Ballylee

Thoor Ballylee Castle, a fortified, 13th century, Norman tower built by the septs de Burgo, or Burke, lies in County Galway near the town of Gort located off the Galway-Ennis road. With four floors, the tower consists of one room on each floor that is connected by a spiral stone stairway built into...

 which Yeats had purchased and lived in with his family for some time. Yeats saw the castle as a vital connection to the aristocratic

Aristocracy

Aristocracy , is a form of government in which a few elite citizens rule. The term derives from the Greek aristokratia, meaning "rule of the best". In origin in Ancient Greece, it was conceived of as rule by the best qualified citizens, and contrasted with monarchy...

 Irish past which he admired. The phrase "winding stair" is used in the book's third poem, "A Dialogue of Self and Soul."

Though this volume includes more poems than The Tower, its contents are generally less well-known and thus less frequently anthologised. Among most well-known and anthologised by far are "A Dialogue of Self and Soul" and "Byzantium."

"A Dialogue of Self and Soul" depicts two aspects of Yeats' personality in confrontation. His soul rejects mundane concerns in favor of metaphysical

Metaphysics

Metaphysics is a branch of philosophy concerned with explaining the fundamental nature of being and the world, although the term is not easily defined. Traditionally, metaphysics attempts to answer two basic questions in the broadest possible terms:...

 contemplation, while his self (which sits with an ancient Japanese sword on its lap) cherishes worldly concerns and affirms the sufferings of Yeats' life. Self is given the final word.

"Byzantium" is a sequel to "Sailing to Byzantium

Byzantium

Byzantium was an ancient Greek city, founded by Greek colonists from Megara in 667 BC and named after their king Byzas . The name Byzantium is a Latinization of the original name Byzantion...

," (from The Tower), meant to better explain the ideas of the earlier poem.

Contents

• In Memory of Eva Gore-Booth and Con Markiewicz
  In Memory of Eva Gore-Booth and Con Markiewicz
  In Memory of Eva Gore-Booth and Con Markiewicz is a poem in two stanzas by William Butler Yeats, written in 1927 and published in his 1933 collection 'The Winding Stair and Other Poems'....
  
  
• Death
• A Dialogue of Self and Soul
• Blood and the Moon
  Blood and the Moon
  Blood and the Moon is a poem by Irish poet William Butler Yeats written in 1928 and published in the collection The Winding Stair in 1929 and reprinted in The Winding Stair and Other Poems in 1933. Yeats composed the poem in response to the 1927 assassination of Kevin O'Higgins, the Vice-President...
  
  
• Oil and Blood
• Veronica's Napkin
• Symbols
• Spilt Milk
• The Nineteenth Century and After
• Statistics
• Three Movements
• The Seven Sages
• The Crazed Moon
• Coole Park, 1929
• Coole and Ballylee, 1931
• For Anne Gregory
• Swift's Epitaph
  Swift's Epitaph
  "Swift's Epitaph" is a poem written by Irish poet William Butler Yeats. It appeared in his 1933 collection The Winding Stair and Other Poems.-Swift's Epitaph:Swift has sailed into his rest;Savage indignation thereCannot lacerate his Breast....
  
  
• At Algeciras—a Meditation upon Death
• The Choice
• Mohini Chatterjee
• Byzantium (poem)
• The Mother of God
• Vacillation
• Quarrel in Old Age
• The Results of Thought
• Gratitude to the Unknown Instructors
• Remorse for Intemperate Speech
  Remorse for Intemperate Speech
  "Remorse for Intemperate Speech" is a poem written by Irish poet William Butler Yeats. It appeared in his 1933 volume of poems The Winding Stair and Other Poems. Yeats wrote this poem in August 1931...
  
  
• Stream and Sun at Glendalough

See also

• 1933 in poetry
  1933 in poetry
  Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* A. E. Housman delivers his influential Leslie Stephen lecture, "The Name and Nature of Poetry", in which he asserted that poetry's function is "to transfuse emotion—not to transmit thought but...
  
  
• List of works by William Butler Yeats