Yeats ambivalence of his personal and political world is displayed through his manipulation of form throughout his poetry. ‘The Second Coming’ published in 1919 explores how chaos and destruction was the cause of Yeats uncertainty of the worlds’ ability to become stable and peaceful. ‘Easter 1916’ published in 1921 highlights how through manipulating form Yeats can communicate his uncertainty of the Rebels violence. Yeats’ modernist piece, ‘The Second Coming’ utilises poetic form to explore how the worlds characterisation of violence and disorder catalysed his uncertainty about both the political world and his personal world. Beginning in media res, the tetrameter “turning and turning in the widening gyre”, highlights Yeats’ belief in the …show more content…
The consistent rhyme scheme 16-24-16-24 is reflective of the Easter Uprising which occurred on the 24th April 1916, this structured rhyme represents the military style of the uprising, reinforced through symbolism of “grey”, a dark tone foreshadowing the nature of the uprising. Manipulating form Yeats switches between iambic trimeter and iambic tetrameter styles, representing his uncertainty about the Rebels actions. Yeats uses the colour symbolism of “motely” to explore his mocking attitude towards the violent actions of Irish Rebels “MacDonagh and MacBride”, referencing their lack of impact and significance through the _________ “polite meaningless words”. Although, Yeats experiences a realisation of the key role of “MacDonagh and MacBride” in reconciling peace and unity within Ireland, he displays uncertainty about their use of violence. Yeats uncertainty about the Rebels violence is represented through the oxymoronic frame that closes each stanza, “a terrible beauty is born” reinforced through its repetition Yeats explore his paradoxical feelings regarding the necessity of the rebel’s violent actions, therefore reflecting his ambivalence. Throughout the fourth stanza Yeats manipulates form through his repeated use of question marks, further catalysing his uncertainty of violence and conflict. Yeats questions if all the destruction and death that resulted from the Rebels violent actions was in fact needed to achieve peace, reinforced through the ________ “was it needless death after all?”. In conclusion, in ‘Easter 1916’, Yeats reflects on the Irish Rebels’ violence which resulted in death and destruction, through manipulating the poems form to reflect their impact, on both himself and the
William Butler Yeats is one of the most esteemed poets in 20th century literature and is well known for his Irish poetry. While Yeats was born in Ireland, he spent most of his adolescent years in London with his family. It wasn’t until he was a teenager that he later moved back to Ireland. He attended the Metropolitan School of Art in Dublin and joined the Theosophical Society soon after moving back. He was surrounded by Irish influences most of his life, but it was his commitment to those influences and his heritage that truly affected his poetry. William Butler Yeats’s poetry exemplifies how an author’s Irish identity can help create and influence his work.
The effects of war as a theme in W.B.Yeats’s Easter 1916 and An Irish Airman Foresees His Death
Conflict is the basis of all human interaction and hence is an integral part of human life. Through ambiguous yet comprehensive treatment of conflict W. B. Yeats has ensured that his works stand the test of time and hence have remained ‘classics’ today. Through my critical study I have recognised that Yeats’ poems Easter 1916 and The Second Coming are no exception. Yeats’ poetic form, language and use of poetic techniques; such as juxtaposition, allusion, and extended metaphors, alert audiences to both the inner and physical conflict that are the foundations of both poems. It is through this treatment of conflict that supplies audiences with the ability to individualise the reading and hence engage a broad range of
Mr. Yeats relates his vision, either real or imagined, concerning prophesies of the days of the Second coming. The writer uses the Holy Bible scripture text for his guide for because no one could explain this period of time without referring to the Holy Bible. He has chosen to present it in the form of a poem, somewhat like the quatrains of Nostradamus. The poem does not cover all the details of this event, but does give the beginning of the powerful messages, and a dark look at those ominous days surrounding the Second Coming of The Lord Jesus Christ. Perhaps he is trying in his own words to warn everyone about the end time days.
William Butler Yeats was born on June 13, 1865, in Dublin, Irelandtheson of a well-known Irish painter, John Butler Yeatsand died in January 28, 1939, Menton,France. Yeats was deeply complex in politics in Ireland, and in the twenties, notwithstanding Irish independence from England. William Butler Yeats was an Irish poet and one of the important figures of 20th century’s literature considering one of the greatestpoets of a century. W.B Yeats’ poems The Easter1916written in 1916 andan Irish Airman foresees His Deathwritten in 1918and published in 1919, exposes two different groups of people who went to wars during First World War in reflective narrative form. Those
The use of symbols in the poem helps to convey the message of how World War I was when William Butler Yeats wrote it. In the first line he says, “Turning and turning in the widening gyre”. The word "gyre" is an important recurring symbol that William uses not only in “The Second Coming” but in all his poems. “Gyres” stands
On Easter Monday, April 24, 1916, members of the Irish Volunteers and the Irish Citizen Army occupied Dublin’s General Post Office, and from its steps, Patrick Pearse read a proclamation of the Irish Republic. The British military responded with force, and the Easter Rising, as it became known, came to an end with the rebels’ surrender on April 29. In England at the time, W. B. Yeats learned about the Rising mostly through newspapers and through letters from his friend and patroness, Lady Gregory. As the British forces imposed martial law and, in early May, executed fifteen of the Rising’s leaders, some of whom Yeats knew personally, the events in Ireland moved Yeats to begin writing the poem which became “Easter, 1916.”
Yeats' poem "The Second Coming," written in 1919 and published in 1921 in his collection of poems Michael Robartes and the Dancer, taps into the concept of the gyre and depicts the approach of a new world order. The gyre is one of Yeats' favorite motifs, the idea that history occurs in cycles, specifically cycles "twenty centuries" in length (Yeats, "The Second Coming" ln. 19). In this poem, Yeats predicts that the Christian era will soon give way apocalyptically to an era ruled by a godlike desert beast with the body of a lion and the head of a man (ln. 14). Critics have argued about the exact meaning of this image, but a close reading of the poem, combined with some simple genetic work, shows
The timeless essence and the ambivalence in Yeats’ poems urge the reader’s response to relevant themes in society today. This enduring power of Yeats’ poetry, influenced by the Mystic and pagan influences is embedded within the textual integrity drawn from poetic techniques and structure when discussing relevant contextual concerns.
This conflict signified the birth of modern warfare. Yeats believes that The Great War was the catalyst for the end of stability in Europe and he uses religious allusions to develop this idea by comparing the second coming to contemporary times. The first stanza of Yeats's “The Second
Yeats uses detail to show a sense of destruction on war. This poem does not pin one nation against another, nor does it blame anyone for the war. The poem talks about anarchy, which shows the pain and hardships of the war. The details begin to focus upon religion, and how God is coming for judgment day. Soon the world will be free.
William Butler Yeats was an Irish poet, a dramatist, and a prose writer - one of the greatest English-language poets of the twentieth century. (Yeats 1) His early poetry and drama acquired ideas from Irish fable and arcane study. (Eiermann 1) Yeats used the themes of nationalism, freedom from oppression, social division, and unity when writing about his country. Yeats, an Irish nationalist, used the three poems, “To Ireland in the Coming Times,” “September 1913” and “Easter 1916” which revealed an expression of his feelings about the War of Irish Independence through theme, mood and figurative language.
Though written only two years after the first version of "The Shadowy Waters", W.B. Yeats' poem "Adam's Curse" can be seen as an example of a dramatic transformation of Yeats' poetic works: a movement away from the rich mythology of Ireland's Celtic past and towards a more accessible poesy focused on the external world. Despite this turn in focus towards the world around him, Yeats retains his interest in symbolism, and one aspect of his change in style is internalization of the symbolic scheme that underlies his poetry. Whereas more mythological works like "The Shadowy Waters" betray a spiritual syncretism not unlike that of the Golden Dawn, "Adam's Curse" and its more realistic fellows offer a view of the
The other difference that sets Yeats and Comain’s poems apart is the reason that attributes to the killing of Irish rebels by British as a result of former’s protest .In Yeats’ Easter, 1916, British had either killed or executed Irish rebels because the latter had planned to revolt against the former and were also armed. This becomes indicative when Yeats in his poem Easter, 1916 argues, “Was it needless death after all? For England may keep faith for all that is done and said” (1916).
W.B. Yeat’s poem, Easter 1916, details the speaker’s feelings of Nationalism and heartache as he remembers those that he lost in the Easter Rising. As the speaker reflects on the time before the rising, he remembers not only how his life has changed but also how his friends and companions had transformed both in their character and in their state of being. The speaker uses metaphors to visualize the unchanging goal of Irish freedom and the coming of nights that bring about death and heartache. In this analysis, I will be focusing on the first and last stanzas of the poem. By comparing these two stanzas I will reflect on the literary devices used, as well as the differences of the speaker’s visuals from the beginning and end. Overall, the speaker