Reminiscences of W. B. Yeats

Abstract

I first met W. B. Yeats in the autumn of 1919. He had come to live in Oxford, and, as secretary of a college literary society, I besought him to address us. The reply was an invitation to come and see him one night after dinner in a tall house in Broad Street,’ opposite Balliol. The room into which I was ushered was dimly lit, and there, in a loose-fitting suit of a faintly pinkish tint and a blue soft shirt, was the tall legendary figure. He greeted me in a low tone, introduced me to Mrs. Yeats, put into my hand a strange-shaped glass—I was too much overcome to notice what was in it—and then, in a surprisingly brisk and business-like fashion, asked me what sort was our society and what we would like him to talk about.

Extracted from Listener (London) LI, 22 Apr 1954, 689–90. Broadcast on the BBC Third Programme.