--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Yeats was 18th-century oratory, almost." description: "\"Yeats was 18th-century oratory, almost.\" — Seamus Heaney" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8fe/seamus-heaney-1711_18th-century_yeats-was-18th-century-oratory-almost-11_1117360.png" --- # Yeats was 18th-century oratory, almost. ![“Yeats was 18th-century oratory, almost.” quote by Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8fe/seamus-heaney-1711_18th-century_yeats-was-18th-century-oratory-almost-11_1117360.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8fe/seamus-heaney-1711_18th-century_yeats-was-18th-century-oratory-almost-11_1117360.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8fe/seamus-heaney-1711_18th-century_yeats-was-18th-century-oratory-almost-11_1117360.png) > “Yeats was 18th-century oratory, almost.” [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker suggests Yeats’ oratory resembles 18th‑century style. **In simple terms:** Yeats sounds like an 18th‑century speaker. Key Takeaway Recognize historical influences in modern speech. Themes literature history style Mood inquisitive scholarly Type literary historical When to use this quote - academic analysis - public speaking Key Concepts rhetoric poetry Questions to Reflect On - What evidence supports this claim? - How does it affect our reading of Yeats? A Different Perspective Interpretations may vary among scholars. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [18th century](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/18th-century/) [Almost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/almost/) [Century Oratory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/century-oratory-3005653/) [Oratory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/oratory/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/yeats/) [Yeats 18Th](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/yeats-18th-3005652/) ## Related quotes > [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/) > [“Only when we have seen and foreseen what we dread shall we be rewarded by that dazzling, unforeseen wing-footed wanderer. We could not find…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rollo-may/only-when-we-have-seen-and-foreseen-what-we-dread-shall-we-be/) [Rollo May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rollo-may/) > [“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/) > [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/) > [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. His chaotic ideas seemed to me just the right…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chinua-achebe/i-liked-yeats-that-wild-irishman-i-really-loved-his-love-of-language/) [Chinua Achebe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chinua-achebe/) > [I have a bit of a love affair with fairy tales and some of the ideas of Irish mythology, like Oscar Wilde and W.B.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hozier/i-have-a-bit-of-a-love-affair-with-fairy-tales-and-some-of-the-ideas/) [Hozier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hozier/) > [I wanted to see who this Yeats person was, and I said to my mother, 'I want a book by this person.' And she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patti-smith/i-wanted-to-see-who-this-yeats-person-was-and-i-said-to-my-mother-i/) [Patti Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patti-smith/) > [“May she be granted beauty and yet not Beauty to make a stranger’s eye distraught. —W. B. 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/) > [Blake has always been a favorite, the lyrics, not so much the prophetic books, but I suppose Yeats influenced me more as a young…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-stevenson/blake-has-always-been-a-favorite-the-lyrics-not-so-much-the-prophetic/) [Anne Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-stevenson/) ## More by Seamus Heaney > [You had to come back to learn how to lose yourself, to be pilot and stray-witch, Hansel and Gretel in one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/you-had-to-come-back-to-learn-how-to-lose-yourself-to-be-pilot-and/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [If self is a location, so is love: Bearings taken, markings, cardinal points, Options, obstinacies, dug heels, and distance, Here and there and now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/if-self-is-a-location-so-is-love-bearings-taken-markings-cardinal/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [I'm very conscious that people dear to me are alive in my imagination - poets in particular.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/i-m-very-conscious-that-people-dear-to-me-are-alive-in-my-imagination/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [Once I was on the job, once I had got started, I felt safe enough, but the anticipation made me tense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/once-i-was-on-the-job-once-i-had-got-started-i-felt-safe-enough-but/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [You can have Irish identity in the north and also have your Irish passport.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/you-can-have-irish-identity-in-the-north-and-also-have-your-irish/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [The external reality and inner dynamic of happenings in Northern Ireland between 1968 and 1974 were symptomatic of change, violent change admittedly, but change…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/the-external-reality-and-inner-dynamic-of-happenings-in-northern/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [Hope for a great sea-change timid to rebuke and too petty to forgive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/hope-for-a-great-sea-change-timid-to-rebuke-and-too-petty-to-forgive/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [One of the very first poems I wrote was Docker That fist would drop a hammer on a Catholic and one of the sturdiest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/one-of-the-very-first-poems-i-wrote-was-docker-that-fist-would-drop-a/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [Anything Can Happen is also, incidentally, a poem that arose from teaching. I'd talked about the Horace Ode (I, 34) \[on which the poem…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/anything-can-happen-is-also-incidentally-a-poem-that-arose-from/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [Poetry is always slightly mysterious, and you wonder what is your relationship to it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/poetry-is-always-slightly-mysterious-and-you-wonder-what-is-your/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [Sink every impulse like a bolt. Secure The bastion of sensation. Do not waver Into language. Do not waver in it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/sink-every-impulse-like-a-bolt-secure-the-bastion-of-sensation-do-not/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [Two buckets were easier carried than one. / I grew up in between.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/two-buckets-were-easier-carried-than-one-i-grew-up-in-between/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [I suppose I'm saying that defiance is actually part of the lyric job](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/i-suppose-i-m-saying-that-defiance-is-actually-part-of-the-lyric-job/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [“It is said that once upon a time St. Kevin was kneeling with his arms stretched out in the form of a cross in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/it-is-said-that-once-upon-a-time-st-kevin-was-kneeling-with-his-arms/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [My father and mother had no sense of entitlement for their children.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/my-father-and-mother-had-no-sense-of-entitlement-for-their-children/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) [Explore all 214 Seamus Heaney quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) ## More 18th century quotes > [ “And the differences thence arising \[between the constitution of men and women\] are no ways sufficient to argue more natural strength in the one… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lady-sophia-fermor/and-the-differences-thence-arising-between-the-constitution-of-men/) [Lady Sophia Fermor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lady-sophia-fermor/) > [Look, science is hard, it has a reputation of being hard, and the facts are, it is hard, and that's the result of 400…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-shostak/look-science-is-hard-it-has-a-reputation-of-being-hard-and-the-facts/) [Seth Shostak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-shostak/) > [The lessons of the First Amendment are as urgent in the modern world as the 18th Century when it was written. One timeless lesson…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-kennedy/the-lessons-of-the-first-amendment-are-as-urgent-in-the-modern-world/) [Anthony Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-kennedy/) > [ By 18th century standards, they \[Great Britain\] were the freest, most dynamic, most willing to challenge tradition and authority. They had the highest wages… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-r-morris/by-18th-century-standards-they-great-britain-were-the-freest-most/) [Charles R. Morris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-r-morris/) > [“If from immemorable time, the Men had been so little envious, and so very impartial, as to do justice to our talents, by admitting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lady-sophia-fermor/if-from-immemorable-time-the-men-had-been-so-little-envious-and-so/) [Lady Sophia Fermor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lady-sophia-fermor/) > [Compare the scale and magnifcence of Versailles with St James's - the brick-built hovel in which the 18th-century kings of England lived. What was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-starkey/compare-the-scale-and-magnifcence-of-versailles-with-st-james-s-the/) [David Starkey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-starkey/) > [Newt Gingrich wants to repeal child labor laws. Ladies and gentlemen, this is the man that we need to lead us into the 18th…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-letterman/newt-gingrich-wants-to-repeal-child-labor-laws-ladies-and-gentlemen/) [David Letterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-letterman/) > [ “I shou'd not myself have thought \[Cato\] worth so much notice as I have here taken of him; but that the Men are weak… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lady-sophia-fermor/i-shou-d-not-myself-have-thought-cato-worth-so-much-notice-as-i-have/) [Lady Sophia Fermor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lady-sophia-fermor/) > [The theory of social contracts extends as far back as Plato. However, it was the great 18th century social philosophers John Locke, Thomas Hobbes,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-mainwaring/the-theory-of-social-contracts-extends-as-far-back-as-plato-however/) [Simon Mainwaring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-mainwaring/) > [To my three sons, Peter, Scott, and Alexander who pulled me from the 18th Century and back into the present on a regular basis…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-j-ellis/to-my-three-sons-peter-scott-and-alexander-who-pulled-me-from-the/) [Joseph J. Ellis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-j-ellis/) > ["The Constitution" has something called The Emoluments Clause. That's just a fancy, 18th century word for no foreign government payments. And Donald Trump is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-l-eisen/the-constitution-has-something-called-the-emoluments-clause-that-s/) [Norman L. Eisen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-l-eisen/) > [The word 'America' probably didn't appear in the Persian language until the end of the 18th century - but then with a documented past…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bettany-hughes/the-word-america-probably-didn-t-appear-in-the-persian-language-until/) [Bettany Hughes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bettany-hughes/) > [The United States may have retained more of the intellectual imprint of the British 18th century than Britain itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-rees-mogg/the-united-states-may-have-retained-more-of-the-intellectual-imprint/) [William Rees-Mogg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-rees-mogg/) > [I think I'm from the 18th century, not even the 19th. I don't even use a typewriter. I prefer longhand, and that's how I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruskin-bond/i-think-i-m-from-the-18th-century-not-even-the-19th-i-don-t-even-use/) [Ruskin Bond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruskin-bond/) > [You need some reason why Beethoven, Mozart and Haydn in the 18th century all flocked to Vienna. What was it about Vienna? They must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-weiner/you-need-some-reason-why-beethoven-mozart-and-haydn-in-the-18th/) [Eric Weiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-weiner/) [Browse all 180 18th century quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/18th-century/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Yeats was 18th-century oratory, almost.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Seamus Heaney" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/yeats-was-18th-century-oratory-almost/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "18th century" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/yeats-was-18th-century-oratory-almost/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8fe/seamus-heaney-1711_18th-century_yeats-was-18th-century-oratory-almost-11_1117360.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8fe/seamus-heaney-1711_18th-century_yeats-was-18th-century-oratory-almost-11_1117360.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8fe/seamus-heaney-1711_18th-century_yeats-was-18th-century-oratory-almost-11_1117360.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Yeats was 18th-century oratory, almost.” — Seamus Heaney", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Seamus Heaney", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Yeats was 18th-century oratory, almost.", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/yeats-was-18th-century-oratory-almost/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/yeats-was-18th-century-oratory-almost/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```