Poetry is often written by an author in times of war, struggle, and hardships. Poetry during a period of war can express the author’s opinions toward war. Most poetry does not directly state the author’s ideas and opinions. One way an author can show his opinion is through symbolism, which is the use of a symbol to show the authors main idea. There are also many other ways for an author to express his beliefs, for example, an author can use language and rhyme. The words a writer use and the sound of the rhyme can touch the reader on an emotional level. There are also many other poetic devices used by a writer in poetry.

Most of the rhyme that occurs in Yeats’ “Easter1916” is end rhyme. Yeats uses many types of end rhyme though; He blends a unique mixture of end rhyme, perfect rhyme, consonance, and assonance. This rhyme is very easy to read and gives the poem an appealing flow. “So sensitive his nature seemed, So Daring and sweet his thought, This other man I had dreamed, A drunken, vainglorious lout.” In the ABAB scheme the first and third and the second and fourth lines contain rhyme. Seemed and dreamed are examples of perfect rhyme, which occurs often in “Easter 1916.” Thought and lout are examples of assonance. The ‘ou’ sound occurs in both words. Assonance is also common in the poem.

The second matter seems to address matters closer to the writer’s heart. The footnotes refer to other poems and Pegasus, sometimes a used for poetic inspiration. There is also a reference to a Major who married the woman Yeats was in love with. Major MacBride’s demise is shown in the lines “He, too, has resigned his part, In this casual comedy.” The death of Macbride is still seen by Yeats as a “terrible beauty.”

In the opening line of the final verse of “Easter 1916” Yeats calls the uprising “Too long a sacrifice” and asks “when may it suffice?” These quotes show Yeats’ desire for the uprising to end. Yeats also questions the uprising when he asks “Was it needless death after all?” Yeats personalizes the poem when he gives the names of four revolutionary leaders who were killed. He mentions the names “MacDonagh and MacBride, Connolly and Pearse.”

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