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Wynton reading “The Wild Old Wicked Man” by William Butler Yeats

December 18, 2007
Rose Theater, New York City.

Wynton Marsalis reads “The Wild Old Wicked Man” by William Butler Yeats. Part of the Poetry Everywhere project airing on public television. Produced by David Grubin Productions and WGBH Boston, in association with the Poetry Foundation.
Wynton lists William Butler Yeats as his favorite poet. He says, “Like all the greatest artists, Yeats never got locked into one time. Instead, he addresses all ages and times. In a few words, with intense lyricism like Lester Young’s or Miles Davis’s, Yeats captures how one thing leads to another thing leads to another thing, and the relationships between them. Like, ‘An aged man is but a paltry thing, a tattered coat upon a stick.’ If you really let that into your mind, it’ll be a long time before you stop thinking about it.

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