W. B. Yeats was the outstanding figure in the early years of the Irish Literary Renaissance. This study offers the fullest, most detailed picture available of Yeats's impact on that movement between 1885 and 1899 and sheds new light upon the development of the movement itself. For this new edition, Professor Marcus has added an introductory essay surveying work in the field since the original publication of the study and offering important new interpretive material of his own.