--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: As a young man, Yeats spoke to me in a…" description: "\"As a young man, Yeats spoke to me in a way I could understand. Shakespeare I couldn't understand, but Yeats I could. It was his subject matter and also..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a98/leonard-cohen-448_life_as-a-young-man-yeats-spoke-to-me-in-a-wa_1724595.jpg" --- # As a young man, Yeats spoke to me in a way I could… ![“As a young man, Yeats spoke to me in a way I could understand. Shakespeare I couldn't understand, but Yeats I could. It was his subject matter and also I really admired the way he put his personal life on the line.” quote by Leonard Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a98/leonard-cohen-448_life_as-a-young-man-yeats-spoke-to-me-in-a-wa_1724595.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a98/leonard-cohen-448_life_as-a-young-man-yeats-spoke-to-me-in-a-wa_1724595.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a98/leonard-cohen-448_life_as-a-young-man-yeats-spoke-to-me-in-a-wa_1724595.jpg) > “As a young man, Yeats spoke to me in a way I could understand. Shakespeare I couldn't understand, but Yeats I could. It was his subject matter and also I really admired the way he put his personal life on the line.” [Leonard Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-cohen/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Yeats’ accessible language and personal honesty resonated more than Shakespeare’s complex style for the speaker. **In simple terms:** Yeats felt more understandable and personal. Key Takeaway Seek art that speaks directly to your experience. Themes literature personal connection accessibility artistic honesty Mood introspective contemplative Type literary personal When to use this quote - reading groups - creative writing workshops - personal reflection Key Concepts poetry comparative literature subjective taste Questions to Reflect On - Which poet’s honesty moves you most? - How does personal relevance shape your appreciation? A Different Perspective Preference for simplicity may overlook deeper layers in complex works. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Lines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lines/) [Man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/man/) [Man Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/man-yeats-1372299/) [Matter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/matter/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Personal life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/personal-life/) [Spokes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spokes/) [Subject matter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/subject-matter/) [Subjects](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/subjects/) [Understand Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/understand-yeats-1372296/) [Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/) [Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/yeats/) [Yeats Spoke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/yeats-spoke-1372297/) [Yeats Subject](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/yeats-subject-1372298/) [Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/young/) [Young man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/young-man/) ## Related quotes > [To be the father of growing daughters is to understand something of what Yeats evokes with his imperishable phrase 'terrible beauty.' Nothing can make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/to-be-the-father-of-growing-daughters-is-to-understand-something-of/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [“Come away! O, human child! To the woods and waters wild, With a fairy hand in hand, For the world’s more full of weeping…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nora-roberts/come-away-o-human-child-to-the-woods-and-waters-wild-with-a-fairy/) [Nora Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nora-roberts/) > [My two great heroes are W. B. Yeats and Fernando Garcia Lorca.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-cohen/my-two-great-heroes-are-w-b-yeats-and-fernando-garcia-lorca/) [Leonard Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-cohen/) > [My two great heroes are W. B. Yeats and Federico García Lorca.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-cohen/my-two-great-heroes-are-w-b-yeats-and-federico-garc-a-lorca/) [Leonard Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-cohen/) > [“Yeats was straight, but as Auden wrote in ‘In Memory of WB Yeats’: “You were silly like us.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-bram/yeats-was-straight-but-as-auden-wrote-in-in-memory-of-wb-yeats-you/) [Christopher Bram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-bram/) > [I carry Yeats with me wherever I go. He's my constant companion. I always can find some comfort in Yeats no matter what the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-hamilton/i-carry-yeats-with-me-wherever-i-go-he-s-my-constant-companion-i/) [Linda Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-hamilton/) > [I liked Yeats! That wild Irishman. I really loved his love of language, his flow. 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YEATS”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-johnston/may-she-be-granted-beauty-and-yet-not-beauty-to-make-a-stranger-s-eye/) [Tim Johnston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-johnston/) > [“David McKay, 1900. Wolfe, Thomas. Look Homeward, Angel. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1929. Yeats, William Butler. A Vision”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hollis/david-mckay-1900-wolfe-thomas-look-homeward-angel-new-york-simon-and/) [James Hollis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hollis/) > [“I balanced all, brought all to mind, The years to come seemed waste of breath, A waste of breath the years behind In balance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-alvarez/i-balanced-all-brought-all-to-mind-the-years-to-come-seemed-waste-of/) [Al Alvarez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-alvarez/) > [Yeats, protected to some extent by the Nationalistic movement, wrote out of a somewhat protected world, and so his work does not touch life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-kavanagh/yeats-protected-to-some-extent-by-the-nationalistic-movement-wrote/) [Patrick Kavanagh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-kavanagh/) > [“ . . . after twenty centuries of stony sleep, what rough beast, its hour come round at last, slouches toward Bethlehem to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-b-yeats-2/after-twenty-centuries-of-stony-sleep-what-rough-beast-its-hour-come/) [W. B. Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-b-yeats-2/) > [I didn't want to be like Yeats; I wanted to be Yeats.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-berryman/i-didn-t-want-to-be-like-yeats-i-wanted-to-be-yeats/) [John Berryman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-berryman/) ## More by Leonard Cohen > [The blizzard of the world has crossed the threshold and it's overturned the order of the soul...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-cohen/the-blizzard-of-the-world-has-crossed-the-threshold-and-it-s/) [Leonard Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-cohen/) > [“Don't matter if you're rich and strong Don't matter if you're weak Don't matter if you write a song The nightingales repeat Don't matter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-cohen/don-t-matter-if-you-re-rich-and-strong-don-t-matter-if-you-re-weak/) [Leonard Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-cohen/) > [“You don't know me from the wind you never will, you never did I'm the little jew who wrote the Bible. 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But there are moments when we can... reconcile and embrace…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-cohen/this-world-is-full-of-conflicts-and-full-of-things-that-cannot-be/) [Leonard Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-cohen/) > [ I would say the hummingbird really deserves the royalties on \[some of my songs\]. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-cohen/i-would-say-the-hummingbird-really-deserves-the-royalties-on-some-of/) [Leonard Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-cohen/) > [One is given to self-dramatization from time to time. I intend to live forever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-cohen/one-is-given-to-self-dramatization-from-time-to-time-i-intend-to-live/) [Leonard Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-cohen/) > [The basic function of popular music is to create an environment for courting, lovemaking, and doing the dishes. 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