David Lynch, a lecturer in English at Tufts, has written a thoughtful study on that extraordinary poet, William Butler Yeats. His work is on two levels—first, a detailed analysis of many poems organized as chapters dealing with themes of creativity and object relationships (Mistress or Muse, Fathers and Sons, Sons and Mothers, Fathers and Mothers). Each chapter presents a partial version of what Lynch argues is the narcissistic rather than the oedipal origin of Yeats's creativity.

The interpretation of the poem as texts of literature is woven into Yeats's personal language and his predilection for certain mythological themes and Irish historical figures. At this level, Lynch is