n ideal place of peace and freedom. He imagines a cottage of clay and wattles. This shows his romantic desire to escape city life and live close to nature. Like Wordsworth (1770-1850), Yeats finds comfort and spiritual joy in the beauty of the natural world.

Power of Imagination: Yeats’s poems are full of imagination and dreamlike scenes. In “The Stolen Child,” he creates a magical world where fairies dance and sing in the lake. They call the human child, saying, 

“Come away, O human child! To the waters and the wild.” 

This world is full of peace, joy, and fantasy. The dreamy pictures of lakes, herons, and faeries show his power to turn ordinary things into something magical. Like Coleridge (1772-1834), Yeats uses imagination to create a new and beautiful world of poetry.

Escapism and Idealism: The desire to escape from modern life is another romantic trait in Yeats. He hated the noise and confusion of the city. So, in many poems, he tries to find peace in an ideal world. In “Sailing to Byzantium,” the poet wishes to leave the world of youth and decay. He wants to go to Byzantium, a holy land of art and spirit. There, he hopes to become “such a form as Grecian goldsmiths make.” Like Keats’s (1795-1821) dream of immortality in “Ode to a Nightingale,” Yeats’s escape is also spiritual. 

Romantic Melancholy: Melancholy or sweet sadness is another mark of Yeats’s romantic spirit. He often feels lonely, tired, and sad about the life changes he’s experiencing. In “The Wild Swans at Coole,” he watches fifty-nine swans resting on the lake. He feels that the swans’ hearts “have not grown old,” but his own life has changed. The swans become symbols of youth and timeless beauty. This contrast between the poet’s age and the swans’ freedom gives the poem a deep, romantic sadness. 

Interest in Myth and Folklore: Yeats had a great love for old Irish myths, legends, and magic. He believed that Ireland’s ancient stories could bring beauty and pride to modern life. In “The Wanderings of Oisin,” he retells the Irish legend of Oisin and the fairy queen. The poem is full of music, magic, and heroic adventure. He often used mystical numbers, such as nine or fifty-nine, derived from Irish folklore. His use of myth and magic reminds us of the romantic poets’ love for wonder and mystery. 

In conclusion, W.B. Yeats may be a modern poet by time, but he is romantic by heart. His poems reflect imagination, nature, sadness, escapism, and love for beauty. Like Wordsworth, he worships nature; like Keats, he searches for eternal beauty; and like Coleridge, he creates a world of dream and magic. All these elements make Yeats one of the most excellent romantic spirits of modern poetry.