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... Introduction
The critic Edward W. Said claims that W.B. Yeats was Ireland’s “great national poet who (articulated) the experiences, the aspirations, and the vision of a people suffering under the dominion of an offshore power”.
According to Said Yeats’s work belongs to the tradition of the literature of anti-imperialist resistance. ... So Yeats ‘s early works deals with themes of Irish ancient myths and legends and praises heroic figures like Cuchulain, Seanchan and Deirdre.
A major turning point for Ireland and Yeats’s poetry was the Easter rising in 1916. ...
This incident meant not only a major change to Ireland, but also to Yeats and his work. ... In poems like “Easter 1916”, “Sixteen Dead Men”, “The Rose Tree” and “On a Political Prisoner” Yeats comments on the effects of the rebellion. ...
In this essay I will analyze some of Yeats’s poems that deal with political themes and briefly outline the major political events of the time as far as they are relevant to the poems. ... W.B. Yeats ‘s Political Poems: From the Rising of 1916 to the Emergence of the Irish Free State
2.1 The Rising of 1916
When the Rebellion in Dublin broke out, Yeats was staying in England. ... His friend the painter William Rothenstein reports: ( Yeats was ) “fretted somewhat that he had not been consulted, had been left in ignorance of what was afoot”. ... The first stanza suggests that the speaker of the poem, supposedly Yeats himself, and the leaders of the Rising lived in a “casual comedy”, in a world where they exchanged “polite meaningless words” and told each other “a mocking tale or a gibe”. ...
For Yeats the Ireland before the Rising was marked by meaninglessness and superficiality : the expression “polite meaningless words” is repeated in the poem. ... ” The stone is Yeats’s symbol for the leaders of the Rising who had sacrificed themselves to the cause of Irish independence. ... It becomes clear that Yeats not only admired their deed but also criticised it. ... In Yeats’ s poem “ On A Political Prisoner” “her mind” is described as “a bitter, an abstract thing” and “Her thought some popular enmity”. ... Even Major John MacBride whom Yeats considered “A drunken, vainglorious lout” has now become a figure of reputation must be mentioned in the poem. ...
“Sixteen Dead Men”
Yeats’ s poem “Sixteen Dead Men” consists of three stanzas and deals with the effects of the executions of the leaders of the Easter Rising. ... In his political writings he claimed, that only the shedding of Irish blood could redeem the country. ...
It is striking that Yeats’s attitude towards the Easter Rising changed, as can be seen in the discussed poems: Whereas in “Easter 1916” he doubts the meaning of the sacrifice of the leaders, he praises it in “The Rose Tree”. ... I suggest that the poet spoke in different voices in these poems: the voice of the Republicans and supporters of the revolution who were willing to fight for their country’s freedom, the voice of the people that believed in the possibility of Home Rule, the voice of the pacifists who feared any struggle … Yeats himself might have felt admiration for the leaders of the Rising, but also condemned and feared the violence. ...
The violence and brutality of both sides in that war left its traces in Yeats ‘ s work. In his poems “The Second Coming”, “Reprisals” and “Nineteen Hundred and Nineteen” the poet represents a world full of hatred and destruction.
“The Second Coming”
Yeats’ s poem “The Second Coming” can be interpreted in universal terms as referring to the disturbed state in Europe after the First World War and the Russian Revolution. ...
The first stanza contains images of Yeats ‘ s theory of history. According to Yeats history follows a cyclical movement, it is a complicated system of gyres in which the evil returns again and again. In his annotations to the poem Yeats wrote :
“The revelation which approaches will however take its character from the contrary movement of the interior gyre. ...
Democracy meant to Yeats a pure levelling down of excellence. ... In January when Yeats wrote the poem members of the IRA shot two policemen in Soloheadbeg. ...
“Reprisals”
Yeats’ s poem “Reprisals” is written in memory of Robert Gregory. ... At the request of his friend Lady Gregory whose son the poem is about Yeats did not publish it. ...
The “cause ( Robert Gregory ) served “ that Yeats himself in his earlier poems had “Imagined such a fine affair” was in the First World War the protection of democracy. ... Phidias was a famous Athenian sculptor of the fifth century B. ... This again refers to the shooting of Ellen Quinn, which Yeats also described in “Reprisals”. ...
In a speech Yeats underlined this ignorant optimism in the pre-war world: “Everyone, certainly everyone who counted, everyone who influenced events believed that the world was growing better and better, and could not even help doing so owing to physical science and democratic politics, and that dream lasted for many years. ...
This is again Yeats ‘s cyclical theory of history, as it appeared in “The Second Coming”. ... Thus the swan is a symbol of art, poetry and the aristocracy, the things that Yeats valued the most. ... The same is now happening again in Yeats’s country, where a war destroys the former values of society. ...
According to Jeffares Yeats’ s took the image of “Herodias ‘ s daughters” from Arthur Symons’ s poem “The Dance of the Daughters of Herodias”. ... He is a version of the democratic masses, that Yeats despised because of their complacency and indifference.
Yeats’ s poetry that deals with the Anglo-Irish war is marked by fear facing the growing violence and brutality in Ireland. ... Yeats himself became a senator of the Irish Free State and was well aware of the danger that threatened him as a political office holder. ...
“Meditations in Time of Civil War”
“Meditations in Time of Civil War” is sequence of seven poems and deals with the causes and the effects of the Civil War in Ireland. ... As already mentioned, Yeats admired the aristocracy and dreamed of an Ireland that had a feudal hierarchical order. ... The fountain is a symbol for live and according to Yeats for art. ... ”
The second poem “My House” has as its symbol Yeats’s tower Thoor Ballylee which was build in the sixteenth century and once owned by the de Burgo family. ... In fact the former owner of Yeats’ s tower has been ruined, his family declined.
Approximate Word count = 5392
Approximate Pages = 21.6
(250 words per page double spaced)
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