Focused Discussions On Poets

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Focused Discussions on Poets

William Butler Yeats' love for poetry and his success was a result of his

fullness of imaginations as well as complexity. Constructive thought and

imagination are clearly visible in his works. Poets require a lot of creativity to

enable easy understanding of their works. Use of appropriate language,

understanding the demographic orientation of the audience, diction, and style are

pivotal elements in poetry. This paper will present a critical analysis of Yeats’

poetic works, a discussion of his poetic works in relation to the Irish culture,

poetic elements, history and nationalism, poetic modernism and romanticism.

Yeats cherished and had an intense love for the Irish culture. He used

different poems and literary works to develop and rejuvenate the Irish culture. For

example in the poem "September 1913" he says, "…romantic Ireland is dead and

gone, it's with O'Leary in the grave…" He explains his disappointment with the

erosion of the Irish culture. Culture is people's way of life. The further yearns the

gone years gone and wishes that the years be brought back. He says "…yet could

we turn the years again and call those exiles as they were…" Yeats, in essence,

pledges his support and oneness with his people through the poem “September

1913.” (Yeats et al. 78). In another poem, "The Second Coming" he feels

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humiliated by the effects of colonization on his culture he says, "…Things Fall

apart; the center cannot hold…" He gives his opinion on how the new culture has

negatively impacted on his culture. People no longer hold on to their culture

(Yeats et al. 109).

Deployment of traditional poetic modes in writing his works makes him a

champion for the modes. For instance in the poem “Easter 1916" he uses rhyme

an essential poetic element. (Day-grey, faces-houses). The two pairs of words end

in the same sound, therefore, forming a regular rhyme scheme.

In the poem “The Wild Swans at Coole” Both symbolism and

personification have been used to pass messages to the audience. He says

“…their hearts have not grown old…” The hearts have been given human

attributes, the ability to grow. The use of personification in this poem helps the

audience decipher the level of love between characters in the poem. Symbolism

has also been used in the same poem. “…mirrors a still sky…” as till sky has been

used here to represent a situating that doesn’t seem to change (Yeats 20). Another

poetic element used by Yeats is imagery. Having not fully been enlightened from

the previous era’s romanticism, Yeats deploys imagery in many of his poetical

works. This happened regardless of his constant renunciation of both romantic

imagery plus diction. In the Poet’s early works, Yeats uses beautiful and nebulous

descriptions in explaining his points. Yeats used flowers, birds, stars as well as

mythical figures with a view to escaping from ugly and strangeness of his age.

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He, however, changed this in later works, thus, using realistic images such as that

of a rough beast (Yeats et al. 19).

The poem “September 1913) talks about his stand on nationalism. He says

“… but little time they had to pray for whom the hangman’s rope was spun…”

This shows how he supported nationalists through his poetic works. Some never

gave up even if it meant death for them. For example his poem "The Second

Coming' he supports the fight for the independence of his country he says

"…surely, some revelation is at hand, The Second Coming! Hardly are those

words out…” This show his strong passion for his nation; a factor that caused him

to be regarded as a nationalist. They share that passion with Gonne whose

undoubted beauty made Yeats fall in love with her (Yeats et al. 69).

He used both fixed poetic forms and metrically regular verse. He uses

irregular verses in the poem “The Second Coming” Stanza one ends in the

following words; gyre, falconer, hold, world, everywhere, drowned, worst and

intensity. The first stanza of this poem uses an irregular rhyme scheme, therefore,

confirming the poet's use of modern poetic techniques (Yeats et al. 79).

Use of significant features of modernists proved him as modernist. For

instance, Yeats uses isolation and preoccupation with history. “The Second

Coming” is a poem he wrote after the First World War. The structure and style

used in the lyrics speak for the new generation, hence modernist to us. In his later

poems, Yeats deploys the use of modern techniques in his works. He says

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“…Troubles my sight; somewhere in the sands of the desert...” This is proof of

solitude hence isolation (Yeats 201).

Discussing Yeats work concerning modernization is interesting since his

lifetime and career spanned a time that witnessed the changing mood from

romantic, lyrical poetry towards more honesty poetry. The poem "September

1913" is another example of his poems that use ancient poetic rules. The poem

has regular verses. For instance, its first line ends in; sense, till, pence, until, bone,

save, gone and grave. These words form a regular end rhyme hence regular

verses. (Yeats et al. 209).

He acknowledged the role Percy played in shaping his life. He composed

many love poems and used romantic a tone in his writing. For example in the

poem “The Rose" he says "…the love I lived, the dream I knew…" This he

expresses love in the poem. The persona goes on and says "…from our birthday

until we die…out singing and our love…" In this poem, Yeats uses characters

who experience love albeit for various reasons. This shows his support and

support for romance.

“The Wild Swans at Coole” is another poems through which Yeats

advocates for and romance through his poems. “…unwearied still lover by lover,

they paddle in the cold…their hearts have not grown old…” In the poem, the poet

is explaining the extent to which the two love each other and the progress they’ve

made so far in their love.

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Use of melancholy in his works is a show of dirge on the vanishing of

noble things. Lost love and breakups in romantic relationships depict the different

subjects in which melancholy is used. The Poet uses this element in expressing his

love with Gonne (MacNeice 38). Yeats, though madly felt affection for Gonne,

was incapable of winning her over. Because of such setbacks in life, Yeats

suffered from Melancholy in his later life. He expresses his feeling of defeat in

the poem “The Wild Swans at Coole.”

In conclusion, Yeats’ poems spin across many items right from stylistic

devices through to modernization. In order to be creative and come up with an

interesting poem, poets need to consider many elements that have been discussed

above, but with consideration of the audience as well as the time in history during

which a poetic work is written. Yeats’ poetic work represent a number of these

crucial elements and, therefore, significant in the world of poetry. Upcoming

poets should emulate his works to come up with successful poems.

Works Cited

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Jeffares, Alexander Norman, and William Butler Yeats. A new commentary on the

poems of WB Yeats. Stanford University Press, 1984.

MacNeice, Louis. The poetry of WB Yeats. Greenwood Publishing Group, 1979.

Yeats, William Butler. The Collected Works of WB Yeats Vol. III: Autobiogra.

Simon and Schuster, 2010.

Yeats, William Butler, Fred Hagstrom, and Oscar J. Gillespie. The second

coming. Strong Silent Type Press, 2009.

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