W.B. Yeats

W.B. Yeats is the most frequently examined poet on the Leaving Cert. His prescribed poems span his full career, from the early Romantic work through the political middle period to the confrontational late poems. Examiners reward students who can trace that development and engage with specific poems rather than making general claims about his style.

Prescribed Poems

Click any poem below for a full study guide with analysis, key quotes, themes, and exam strategy.

The Lake Isle of Innisfree

September 1913

The Wild Swans at Coole

An Irish Airman Foresees His Death

Easter 1916

The Second Coming

Sailing to Byzantium

The Stare’s Nest by My Window

In Memory of Eva Gore-Booth and Con Markiewicz

Swift’s Epitaph

An Acre of Grass

Under Ben Bulben (V and VI)

Politics

Go Beyond the Notes