The Wanderings of Oisin

The Wanderings of Oisin is an epic poem published by William Butler Yeats in 1889. It ws his first publication outside of magazines, and immediately won him a reputation as a significant poet.

The poem is a dialogue between the aged Irish hero Oisin (pronounced Usheen) and St. Patrick, the man traditionally responsible for converting Ireland to Christianity. Most of the poem is spoken by Oisin, relating a supernatural journey he has taken through three enchanted islands. Having begun the journey as a young man, he returns to find his warrior companions dead, and the pagan faith of Ireland being displaced by Patrick's Christianity.

Oisin has not been a popular poem with critics influenced by modernism, who dislike its pre-Raphaelite character. However, Harold Bloom defended this poem in his book-length study of Yeats, and concludes that it deserves reconsideration.