Yeats and the Rhymers’ Club: A Nineties’ Perspective

A diverse group of dedicated poets, the Rhymers’ Club provided the environment in which W.B. Yeats learned his trade. For the most part, however, these promising young writers passed into obscurity with the end of the Decadent age, leaving behind only incomplete or inaccurate information concerning their activities and character. This study brings together for the first time a comprehensive history of the group. It examines the Rhymers’ influence on Yeats, both as a young and a mature poet, and the crucial ways in which he distinguished himself from his less successful contemporaries.