John Sherman is the only work of realistic fiction Yeats ever completed. The novelette contains many biographical elements and is of interest for its treatment of Yeats's recurring themes. It examines the debate between nationality and cosmopolitan and looks at the conflict between the self and the Anti-self. Dhoya depicts a liaison between a mortal and a fairy, a motif that recurs in Yeats's poetry and other works. The texts are supplemented by an introduction and detailed explanatory notes by the editor, Richard Finneran.
