William Butler Yeats, born in 1865 and died in 1939. Yeats is one of the greatest poets that is well known in the twentieth century. Also a philosophical person, Yeats had developed his own philosophy which states, “Yeats developed a philosophy that united his interest in history, art, personality, and society. His basic insight was that, in all these fields, conflicting forces are at work. In history, for example, as one kind of civilization grows and eventually dies, an opposite kind of civilization is born to take its place. Similarly, human personalities can be defined as opposites: the creative or subjective person versus the active or objective person.” (Prentice Hall Literature [page 1144 Yeats’s Philosophy]). With this said, Yeats believed that if you believed there was such a thing called a “soul” you would not only live a life of concentric circles, but indeed there would be this thing we call an “afterlife”. Thus, explaining Yeats’s Philosophy, meaning that we will be reborn depending on whether or not of you wanted to live life, or as he states it in Sailing to Byzantium, live the new life like a monument. Critic Richard Ellmann states, that Yeats’s poetry is based on the opposition between “the world of change” and a world of “changelessness”. Evidence of this is supported in Yeats poetry, When You Are Old, The Lake Isle of Innisfree, The Wild Swans at Coole, The Second Coming, and finally Sailing to Byzantium. All five of these poems represent change and stability in each poem; however, the change can vary among nature and civilization. In the first text, one of Yeats’s poem, When You Are Old, demonstrates a change in the physical appearance of civilization. An example is as follows, “When you are old and gray and full of sleep, and nodding by the fire, take down this book, and slowly read, and dream of the soft look your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep;” (Prentice Hall Literature [page 1140 lines 1-4]). When You Are Old, by Yeats, describes how a man once young grew old and lost his beauty. As described in the text, one thing that changes is the physical appearance of a human beings face. Related to today’s society we begin to come up with “cures” to prevent aging, even though we basically drag around a decaying body waiting for our soul to set free, we find ways to prevent everything from sagging and bagging.
...arly, these poems all have a statement to make about the opposition of stasis and change. Old says that false love is always changing, but true love is constant. Lake states that nature is much more desirable than city life, become it is unchanging, whereas people change things constantly. Wild gives us the realization that things that have always been one way may at any time become different. In Second, we see how people change the world too fast, and sorrow ensues. Finally, the great poem Sailing to Byzantium makes clear the faults of humanity in our pursuit for the physical, ever-changing aspects of life, when what really matters are the ever-constant aspects of the metaphysical world. From this week of reading Yeats, and some deep thought into the matter, I have come to this very simple conclusion about the world we live in. Nature doesn’t change, until it does.
When You are Old, by William Butler Yeats, represents and elderly woman reminiscing of her younger days. A past lover whispers to her as she looks through a photo album. Basically, Yeats is showing that as the woman gets older, she is alone, but she does not have to be lonely. She will always have her memories for companionship.
His first poems about romance mentioned grey hair and exhaustion even if he wrote them while still young, and they still portray his consciousness about old age (Hoffman 29). In his 60s, Yeats began to get sickly. Regardless of his deteriorated health, he spent the last fifteen years of his life as a lively man who had an extraordinary appetite for life. He still wrote plays about spiritualism. One time after a recovery from a severe sickness, he created a sequence of dynamic poetries that recounted about an old poor fictitious female called Silly Jane as an expression of happiness. The passion for poetry kept Yeats active in his career and was determined to ensure that sickness did not hinder his
Keats’ poetry explores many issues and themes, accompanied by language and technique that clearly demonstrates the romantic era. His poems ‘Ode to a Nightingale’ and ‘Bright Star’ examine themes such as mortality and idealism of love. Mortality were common themes that were presented in these poems as Keats’ has used his imagination in order to touch each of the five senses. He also explores the idea that the nightingale’s song allows Keats to travel in a world of beauty. Keats draws from mythology and christianity to further develop these ideas. Keats’ wrote ‘Ode To A Nightingale’ as an immortal bird’s song that enabled him to escape reality and live only to admire the beauty of nature around him. ‘Bright Star’ also discusses the immortal as Keats shows a sense of yearning to be like a star in it’s steadfast abilities. The visual representation reveal these ideas as each image reflects Keats’ obsession with nature and how through this mindset he was able
Poets use many different stylistic devices to capture the attention of the reader. After all, who wants to read a boring poem? Many times, it is the opening line that acts as the "hook." What better way to capture someone's attention than to incite emotion with the first word. Some poets use form to their advantage. Perhaps by writing the words out in different shapes, they will create a broader readership. Some poets use symbolism, or structure to benefit their artistic license. I prefer the subtler and less common stylistic devices. Fred Chappel, in "Narcissus and Echo," and William Butler Yeats poem, "Leda and the Swan." use different, yet effective stylistic devices to capture the attention of the reader and hold on to them throughout the entire poem.
In these lines from "All Things can Tempt Me" (40, 1-5), Yeats defines the limitations of the poet concerning his role in present time. These "temptations" (his love for the woman, Maude Gonne, and his desire to advance the Irish Cultural Nationalist movement) provide Yeats with the foundation upon which he identifies his own limitations. In his love poetry, he not only expresses his love for Gonne, he uses his verse to influence her feelings, attempting to gain her love and understanding. In regard to the Nationalists, he incorporates traditional Irish characters, such as Fergus and the Druids, to create an Irish mythology and thereby foster a national Irish identity. After the division of the Cultural Nationalists, Yeats feels left behind by the movement and disillusioned with their violent, "foolish" methods. He is also repeatedly rejected by Gonne. These efforts to instigate change through poetry both fail, bringing the function of the poet and his poetry into question. If these unfruitful poems tempt him from his ?craft of verse,? then what is the true nature verse and why is it a ?toil? for the poet? Also, if Yeats cannot use poetry to influence the world around him, then what is his role as a poet?
There is always change in a persons life or loved one. No matter what happens something is always to be an outcome of it. In the poems, “When You Are Old”, “Lake Isle of Innisfree”, “The Wild Swans of Coole”, “The Second Coming”, and “Sailing to Byzantium”, Yeat’s shows the tension of change and ability. All of the poems show some kind of change no matter what it involves. Change can make you feel like nothing is the way that it was once before. You can sometimes not be too pleased with the way that your life is leading you and you need to make a change in some way to be happy again. When making changes in your life, you have to be sure not to make a religious change, you must always remember who is the creator of all things possible in your life. Think in a way that in years from now, what will still live on and be remembered in a positive way, those are the things that you need to cherish most in life. Life, love, hope, or death; it all proceeds to one ending: change.
William Butler Yeats specialized in the early Modernists style of literature. Coming just out of the Late Victorian age, Yeats used strong literary and historic elements in literary form to evoke his symbolic message in "The Second Coming." Through the use of his theme of the "new Apocalypse," (lecture notes on Early 20th Century Modernism) he imagined the world was coming into a state of unsurity from the post-WWI Modernist experience. The war left people in a state of chaos, and although the war was meant to bring people a sense of hope for no more wars in the future, it did far more damage then good, especially in people's minds. The time in the Modernist era was reflected in the equally chaotic, and choppy word structure in Yeats' poem. In "The Second Coming" conditions are illustrated as being chaotic, "Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;/ Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world" (Yeats, Longman p. 2329: ll. 3-4), confused in a way. Those words he uses, "fall apart," "cannot hold," and "anarchy" are ...
Poetry provides a means of expressive writing through puzzling phrases and metaphorical references. John Keats, a famous Romantic poet, used these techniques in creating his vivid imagery. Keats heavily focused on the beauty of life and the experiences he encountered with sickness and loss. Because of this the majority of Keats’ poetry reflects the ability of humans to become greatly weakened by their emotions. Keats’ upbringing shaped his poetry and as time went on he learnt the purpose of values. His poetry vividly represents the surroundings Keats placed himself in and what he was exposed to. Three poems that significantly show these effects include his romantic poem “Stanzas to Miss Wylie” and his reflective poems “On Fame” and “When I
f you were a poet or an artist back in the twentieth Century, you probably would have recognized the name William Butler Yeats. William was born on June 13, 1865 in Sandymount, Dublin, Ireland. He was one of the major figures of the twentieth century who was involved in the theater, the arts and writing. William Butler Yeats is considered to be one of the greatest lyric poets that Ireland has ever produced. His writings and poetry were heavily influenced not only by his parents and grandparents Irish roots but they were also influenced by places he had lived and visited and even more so by women he had loved and women he had lost in his lifetime. His unique style of writing was more of a dreamlike atmosphere with a hint of Irish folklore and
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 world in which symbolic systems are submerged, creating an undercurrent of meaning which lends depth to the outward circumstances, but which is itself not immediately accessible to the lay or academic reader. In a metaphorical sense, then, Yeats seems in these later poems to achieve a doubling of audience, an equivocation which addresses the initiate and the lay reader simultaneously.
William Butler Yeats: Modernism William Butler Yeats is an Irish poet from the nineteenth century. William Butler Yeats was born in Dublin, Ireland in 1865. He was educated in both Dublin and London, and he wrote his first verse in 1877 (nobelprize.org). He wrote many poems during his lifetime, and is thought to be the most influential poet of his era. He was very influential in the Modernism era.
"The point of view which I am struggling to attack is perhaps related to the metaphysical theory of the substantial unity of the soul: for my meaning is, that the poet has, not a personality' to express, but a particular medium, which is only a medium and not a personality, in which impressions and experiences combine in peculiar and unexpected ways."
death of a fellow poet, Auden may be lamenting the ultimate futility of Yeats’ life and art
Throughout many of his poems, W.B Yeats portrayed important aspects of Ireland’s history especially around the 1900’s when Ireland was fighting for independence. During this time, Ireland was going through an agonizing time of struggle. The Employers’ Federation decided to lock out their workers in order to break their resistance. By the end of September, 25,000 workers were said to have been affected. Although the employers’ actions were widely condemned, they refused to consider negotiation or compromise with the Union. His readers are able to see how Yeats reflects the political, cultural, and societal atmosphere in Ireland during the early 1900’s. The poems September 1913 and Easter 1916 both reflect the political, cultural, and societal atmospheres that were found in Ireland around the 1900’s.