Difference between revisions of "W.B. Yeats"

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===Later life===
===Later life===
At the age of 69 he was 'rejuvenated' by the Steinach operation which was performed on 6 April 1934 by Norman Haire. For the last five years of his life Yeats found a new vigour evident from both his poetry and his intimate relations with younger women. During this time, Yeats was involved in a number of romantic affairs with, among others, the poet and actress Margot Ruddock, and the novelist, journalist and sexual radical Ethel Mannin. As in his earlier life, Yeats found erotic adventure conducive to his creative energy, and, despite age and ill-health, he remained a prolific writer.
At the age of 69 he was 'rejuvenated' by a Steinach operation (consisting of a half-vasectomy, to shift the balance from sperm production toward increased hormone production in the affected testicle) which was performed on 6 April 1934 by Norman Haire. For the last five years of his life Yeats found a new vigour evident from both his poetry and his intimate relations with younger women. During this time, Yeats was involved in a number of romantic affairs with, among others, the poet and actress Margot Ruddock, and the novelist, journalist and sexual radical Ethel Mannin. As in his earlier life, Yeats found erotic adventure conducive to his creative energy, and, despite age and ill-health, he remained a prolific writer.


From 1935 to 1936 he travelled to the Western Mediterranean island of Majorca with Indian-born Shri Purohit Swami and from there the two of them performed the majority of the work in translating the principal Upanishads from Sanskrit into common English.
From 1935 to 1936 he travelled to the Western Mediterranean island of Majorca with Indian-born Shri Purohit Swami and from there the two of them performed the majority of the work in translating the principal Upanishads from Sanskrit into common English.
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==Involvement with the occult==
==Involvement with the occult==
Yeats had a lifelong interest in mysticism, spiritualism, [[occult]]ism and [[astrology]]. He read extensively on the subjects throughout his life, became a member of the paranormal research organisation "The Ghost Club" in 1911. His mystical interests, inspired by a study of [[Hinduism]], formed much of the basis of his late poetry. During séances held from 1912, a spirit calling itself "Leo Africanus" apparently claimed it was Yeats's [[demon|Daemon]] or anti-self.
Yeats had a lifelong interest in mysticism, [[spiritualism]], [[occult]]ism and [[astrology]]. He read extensively on the subjects throughout his life, became a member of the paranormal research organisation "The Ghost Club" in 1911. His mystical interests, inspired by a study of [[Hinduism]], formed much of the basis of his late poetry. During séances held from 1912, a spirit calling itself "Leo Africanus" apparently claimed it was Yeats's [[demon|Daemon]] or anti-self.


===Golden Dawn===
===Golden Dawn===