WB Yeats

Mystical Experience of William Butler (W.B.) Yeats

William Butler Yeats (1865 – 1939) was an Irish poet and a leading literary figure of the 20th century; in 1923, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.  Among Yeats’ most well-known poems are “The Stolen Child”, “The Second Coming”, and “Sailing to Byzantium”.  Yeats had a lifelong interest in mysticism and spiritualism.

W.B. Yeats described his “seeing” experience (mystical experience) in the following poem:

“My fifteenth year had come and gone.
I sat, a solitary man,
In a crowded London shop,
An open book and an empty cup
On the marble table top.

While on the shop and street I gazed,
My body for a moment blazed,
And twenty minutes, more or less,
It seemed, so great my happiness,
That I was blessed and could bless.”

Quoted from The Psychology of Awakening by Gay Watson, Stephen Batchelor, and Guy Claxton.


Did you have an experience similar to the one described above? Please Share Your Experience Today! It’s safe, secure, and anonymous (if you prefer).

Back to Experience Stories

Share Your Own Mystical Experience Now