The Wild Swans at Coole by W.B Yeats

The tone of despair and loneliness is carried on to the proceeding stanzas, and is more evident in the last two. By saying that “Water limpid as the solitudes that flee

The techniques and systolic structure provides textual integrity by allowing relevance for a large contextual audience, with the themes transcending time and context. The contrast of the swans’ magnificence in their immortal portrayal to Yeats’ anguish in his “twilight years” of mental state establishes two aspects of human nature, developing a sense of ambiguity.

William Butler Yeats' poem "The Wild Swans at Coole" tells of a man who, in the autumn, would visit this pool of water that was a resting place for a flock of swans. He visits them one autumn but does not return for 19 years, "The nineteenth autumn has come upon me since I first made my count." Yeats uses simple diction so he does not distract from the empasis on the swans themselves. Words like; "Clamorous" (line 12) and

In the first stanza Yeats expresses his conflicting loathing and admiration for modernity through the juxtaposition of “vivid faces” and “grey houses”. This represents the possibilities that modernity can bring; the revitalising of the community or the destruction of tradition and age old energy already lost by the modifications in the city. The repetition of the phrase “A terrible beauty is born” in the first and fourth stanzas articulate this inner turmoil revolving around modernity. This oxymoronic declaration is emphasised throughout the text by Yeats’ confusion towards the rebellion and its necessity. The fourth stanza embodies this conflict, removing the previously represented idea that life in pre-rebellion Ireland was a “casual comedy”, alluding to an Elizabethan play where the characters were content. By asking the rhetoric questions “was it needless death” and “O when may [British rule] suffice?” Yeats parallels the unresolved contradiction of “terrible beauty”. However, this sensitive treatment of conflict allows the retainment of ambiguity and can be related to any change within life, hence allowing audiences to superimpose their own beliefs and ideas into the poem. Yeats continues to explore his aversion towards modernism in The Second Coming with the appointment of a new “gyre” standing as the symbol for a new age. The fear of

The poem begins in a manner suggestive of a lover scorned. Yeats talks about how passionate women, which at this point in time is not necessarily a compliment, don’t consider love that is a sure thing worth their time and energy. Essentially it is a poetized version of the “Nice guys finish last” argument, along with the idea that people only desire what

Yeats’ interest in rhythm was deeply tied to the notion of the sound of the earth and nature, and our relationship with the elements. He also had a profound interest and belief in faery, and the ways in which one could transcend material reality in order to reach that world which ran alongside the natural world. Yet Yeats, who was born in 1865 and died in 1939, lived through an era of immense scientific discovery and change. He lived in a world where, by and large, to believe in faery was to be irrational, and the industrial hum of engines prevailed over the quieter sounds of nature. In his earlier poetry, he conveys a certain reverence towards the ancient rhythms of language and nature, flying in the face of the frenetically busy London life he experienced as a young man. The bewitching beauty of the landscape of Sligo, steeped in folklore, were the true rhythms which brought on the ‘state of perhaps real trance’, allowing him to

The poem “Wild Geese” is an inspiring message to help remind people that they are not alone on this earth and their problems are small in the grand scheme of life. The narrator does accomplish the difficult task of self-improvement in a non-aggressive way. In the beginning if the poem, the tone is a little condescending when the narrator is discussing the necessity of letting go of the problems in life and not basing life on these challenges. The poem is not insulting, though one of the main topics is on getting over self-loathing. Soon the tone turns calm even inspirational when discussing the constant movement of nature and the family relationship of the creatures on earth. This poem inspires, calms, and unites the readers,

As years pass further away from childish thoughts, adults are allowed to reflect on their youth, while the youth dutifully study the already matured. This is exemplified in the writings of E. B. White and W. B. Yeats, and the insight gained upon reading them. In Yeats’s essay, “Reveries over Childhood and Youth”, he recounts of how his grandfather was a feared man deserving of admiration. “Once More to the Lake” is a recollection of White’s experience and emotions pertaining to his childhood summers spent at the lake. In both these essays, Yeats and White show that with age comes wisdom and respect, but it does not inherently entail contentment or satisfaction.

This poem is also about Art, and the Irish people's response to it. It is structured around the contrast between the Yeats' dream to write for the Irish people, and the reality.

Young Yeats spent much of his childhood in Sligo, Ireland. It was in Sligo where his earliest visions began to form. Through the Pollexfen’s, William was able to experience life on the water, as his grandfather owned a fleet of ships and the Sligo Steam Navigation Company. As the grandson of this sea merchant, the sailors onboard the fleets, as well as the servants back at home, would all treat young William like royalty. The Pollexfen’s world was complete with yachts and summer homes. Despite separation from his father for much of his youth, William was without want. He was free to wander about to discover the beauties, and explore the myths and legends of this enchanted place. William would miss Sligo immensely when this family would move

Furthermore, John Keats writes with a drained mood alongside his miserable tone. “When I Have Fears” is constructed with three different quatrains that divide differing rhyme schemes. Throughout these three different quatrains Keats illustrates features of life that he will not be able to witness and feel anymore once he dies. One such illustration is, “When I behold, upon the night’s

In William Butler Yeats poem “Leda and the Swan”, he uses the fourteen lines of the traditional sonnet form in a radical, modernist style. He calls up a series of unforgettable, bizarre images of an immediate physical event using abstract descriptions in brief language. Through structure and language Yeats is able to paint a powerful sexual image to his readers without directly giving the meaning of the poem.

Yeats introduces the poem by referring to a falcon that flies away from the falconer who happens to release it. Shockingly, the falcon cannot hear its master but it continues wheeling at far distance from the falconer. The separation between the falcon and the falconer presents a metaphorical incidence that is worth to interpret. For instance, it is possible that the disassociation represent the young ones, acting as falcons, and separate themselves from the old order of the society. Notably, the modern children may be adopting new societal principles different from the ones that their parents and grandparents prescribe during the Yeats’ time. Such societal engagements may touch on music, new

In the context of John Keats’ “Ode to a Nightingale,” “The Wild Swans at Coole” by William Butler Yeats raises compelling dialogue with Keats’ piece, which suggests that Yeats, to some degree, draws inspiration from John Keats, in that his pose concerning the nightingale becomes a basis and “touchstone” for “The Wild Swans at Coole.” Aside from commonalities concerning avians, both poems share elements of Romanticism, melancholy, feelings of weariness, and other key ideas, images, and plots as “Ode to a Nightingale” and thus, “The Wild Swans at Coole” strengthens Keats’ initial ideas in a harmonic and resonant fashion using its own unique methods. As a response to Keatsian Romanticism, Yeats revises the ideas surrounding transcendence of

The fifth stanza describes the quality that Yeats came to see as at the very heart of civilized life: courtesy. By courtesy he understands a means of being in the world that would protect the best of human dignity, art and emotion. And in his prayer for his daughter he wishes that she will learn to survive with grace and dignity in a world turned horrific. He explains that many men have hopelessly loved beautiful women, and they thought that the women loved them as well but they did not.