"Easter, 1916" printed by Clement Shorter
William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)
“Easter, 1916”
Privately printed by Clement Shorter, 1917
Yeats drafted “Easter, 1916” in France that summer, finalized the poem at Coole Park in September, and briefly considered making it the opening of his next collection, The Wild Swans at Coole. In the volatile political climate, however, he deemed this unwise. Sending a typescript to Clement Shorter in early 1917, he urged him to be “very careful” with it: “Lady Gregory asked me not to send it you until we had finished our dispute with the [British] authorities about the Lane pictures. She was afraid of it getting about & damaging us & she is not timid.” Yeats allowed Shorter to print just 25 copies of the poem in this rare edition, but he carefully restricted distribution of these to friends who would not circulate them further.
: Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature
The copyright and related rights status of this item has been reviewed by The New York Public Library, but we were unable to make a conclusive determination as to the copyright status of the item. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use.