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The Poetry of Yeats

            Yeats poetry has the unique ability to unify the dichotomous aspects of human existence in a lyrical manifestation of the realm of art, our memories fraught with contradiction, our current struggle with meaning and the processes of time and decay. His poems, 'Wild Swans at Coole' explores the conflicting tension of perpetual youth and our inevitable mortality while his great philosophical poem 'Among School Children' takes this dichotomy further in an often despairing quest for meaning in the face of 'sixty winters' of pain. The element of art is not served as a solution for the tensions and arguments within Yeats heart, but instead offers him the possibility of some form of transcendent solace for the dualities of his heart.
             The human obsession with the elusive nature of immortality and time is often brought into sharp relief when we are brought face to face with our own mortality. 'Wild Swans at Coole' provides a poignant reverie on the poet's own transient existence and his growing awareness of the passing of time, setting up a seemingly irreconcilable gap between the beauty and vigour of lost youth and the imperfections of aging. The poem is structured in 5 stanzas, each consisting 6 lines, along with a rough iambic meter. He begins in the present with a symbolic/metaphorical reference to 'autumn' years of life observing that "All's changed" as he reaches the "twilight" of life. Yeats' confinement within the metaphoric 'dry' 'woodland paths' of time and the seasons is contrasted with the mysteriously changeless swans. Their 'clamorous' movement is transformed into the circular imagery of "great broken rings" they metaphorically break free of time's constraints. The perpetual beauty and perfection of the "brilliant creatures" is further extended with the alliterative and sensual "bell beat" to create a sense of power to match their 'passion and conquest'.


Essays Related to The Poetry of Yeats

1. Analyzing the Poetry of Yeats

In analyzing the poetry of William Butler Yeats, my interpretation of his work has been strongly enhanced by his innovative use of textual forms, structures and features, especially in light of his response to change. Ultimately, the poetry of Yeats demonstrates a response to modernity and reveals that he has reconciled himself to the inevitability of change in a modern world. ... However, through the symbolism of the swans, Yeats imposes his own desires to resist this change. ... In response, Yeats showed a shift to tolerance to change. ... My interpretation of Yeat's poems has been shap...

  • Word Count: 1286
  • Approx Pages: 5
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

2. Yeats' Relationship with Maud Gonne

Yeats's life, a woman named Maud Gonne had significant impacts on his poetry writing as well as his political views. Yeats experienced marriage rejections from her over and over again, which resulted in a great contribution to Yeats's beautiful and sentimental poems. ... The image of Maud Gonne in Yeats's works is presented as a flawless beauty, however, this beauty potentially carries dangerous power that not only exerts on Yeats but also on other Irish affairs. ... Yeats's representation varies overtime. ... Yeats had been given suffering and torture by Gonne; but Yeats&...

  • Word Count: 1252
  • Approx Pages: 5
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

3. William Butler Yeats' Poetry

Throughout the years 1890-1914, William Butler Yeats focused his poetry on certain situations that were happening in his life. ... Why was Yeats so focused on Drama and his poetry? ... After those 2 poems he took a break and then continued writing poetry. ... Now, what did Yeats hope to accomplish with his poetry? ... Yeats" responsibility was to keep presenting the middle-class with what he thought about culture, and therefore he wants to keep it alive in his poetry by speaking of folklore and romanticism. ...

  • Word Count: 1614
  • Approx Pages: 6
  • Grade Level: High School

4. Yeats and Poems on Growing Old

In poetry, love is the theme of a poem, which is a common use of a device for all poetry. ... In the poems "When You Are Old" and "The Song of the Old Mother" by William Butler Yeats, Yeats uses love differently by showing it from a man's view and a mother's view. ... Yeats writing in this poem presents a feeling of passion and love that was not returned. ... Yeats writing can bring a million thoughts and opinion to your mind. ... Yeats definition of love is "a person or thing that one loves....

  • Word Count: 914
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Grade Level: High School

5. William Butler Yeats - Personal and Political

His poetry contrasts and compares his personal views with the political situations, as well as the beliefs and thoughts within the historical era. ... Although there are tensions evident within the poems individually, Yeats has also applied recurring universal themes across his poetry. ... Yeats always held eminent views about the meaning of life and its purpose. ... This philosophy within Yeats' poem enhances the powerful metaphor of 'Into the yolk and white of the one shell' and can link to Yeats notion of the struggles beginning at birth itself. ... Yeats rhetorically quest...

  • Word Count: 1908
  • Approx Pages: 8
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

6. Yeats

This thick, sugary, praise is highly typical of Yeats" early poetry and his inherited spirit of the general romantic style. ... The romantic pond from which much of his early poetry spawned became dry. ... During this period where Yeats" poetry resembled unrequited loves, human nature under went a fundamental change. ... Yeats became heavily focussed on new occult speculations, his personal life resolved by marriage, he began writing exceedingly metaphysical poetry. ... The music of art and poetry. ...

  • Word Count: 2111
  • Approx Pages: 8
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

7. W.B. Yeats

At first glance, Yeats" poetry may seem to be merely spontaneous emotion, however, after close literary analysis, it is clear that Yeats" poetry is often fairly systematic and reveals an assortment of reoccurring ideas. When analysis of Yeats" works is undertaken, especially when discussing Yeats" ideas and thoughts expressed through his poetry, it is often useful to consider the context of the poems. ... These regularly reiterated ideas are clearly uncovered when analysis is applied to Yeats" poetry, which indeed, on first reading appears to be predominantly spontaneous emotion. As part o...

  • Word Count: 823
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

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