“William Butler Yeats trades with an interesting assortment of topics and his poesy is full of powerful images and impressive descriptions. Discuss. ” Submitted by Hollie McLaughlin.
I really much bask reading the poesy of William Butler Yeats. What I like about the poesy is the multi-faceted adult male who emerges. In Inisfree he is the seeking. restless 25 twelvemonth old. looking to nature as a sort of redemptional force. In ‘September 1913’ he is the fervent political critic of the soul-destroying philistinism. In ‘Easter 1916’ he is once more multilateral. the adult male who commemorates the great heroes and is able to squeal he was incorrect about their being. every bit good as the adult male distressingly cognizant of war’s wastage of vernal potency. My front-runner. ‘The Wild Swans at Coole’ . is Yeats as the disillusioned adult male whose “heart is sore” . the adult male of “unrequited love” . the adult male aware of mortality. In ‘Sailing to Byzantium’ . Yeats symbolises cosmopolitan adult male in hunt of significance and permanency amid the transiency of life. Who couldn’t be intrigued by this adult male!
In ‘The Lake Isle of Inisfree’ . Yeats echoes for me. the yearning we all experience at times to get away the urban jungle. the “pavements grey” . This inexorable image of subjugation is something many people have to confront worldwide. A frequent reoccurrence in the poesy of William Butler Yeats is his thought of an idyllic Utopia. I rather liked the disagreement between his two blissful Edens. In ‘The Lake Isle of Inisfree’ he speaks of the arcadian life style found in Ireland. This poem represents Yeats’ Irish heritage. “I hear it in the deep heart’s core” . The 2nd verse form in which Yeats depicts a great fancy of a peculiar topographic point is ‘Sailing to Byzantium’ . It is said that Yeats has ever had a profound involvement in the Grecian civilization of Byzantium. There is a great contrast presented between these two ideal universes of his. these being a kind of fabulous topographic point in comparing to a mere county Sligo.
In my sentiment. I believe that Yeats is a maestro of rime. When reading his verse forms. they tend to flux really easy off your lingua. I find this can do a individual who doesn’t peculiarly like reading poesy. experience it to be rather simple and gratifying to read. His verse form ne’er seem forced. they don’t sound unreal or contrived. It is as if he didn’t even program out his poesy and what he was traveling to compose. he merely grabbed a pen and allowed the verse form to compose itself with easiness. The verse form which I think is the best illustration for Yeats’ rhythmic quality of authorship is ‘The Lake Isle of Inisfree’ . Here. I find the beat to be about hypnotic. with the usage of long vowel sounds and long slow lines throughout.
This hypnotic beat carries you off to a dream universe. an idyllic Utopia. I besides find that the last two lines in Yeats’ poem ‘September 1913’ captures his sense of hopelessness and disenchantment with the Ireland of 1913. “But allow them be. they’re dead and gone. they’re with O’Leary in the grave” . I really much enjoyed Yeats’ usage of repeat throughout his poesy. From sentence to sentence he frequently repeats words. Some illustrations of this may be found when reading the verse form ‘The Lake Isle of Inisfree’ . “I will originate and travel now and go…” “And I shall hold some peace at that place for peace comes dropping slow…” “Was it for this the wild geese spread. for this that all the blood was shed. ”
Yeats is frequently famed for adhering to his usage of a strong complex personal mythology which he illustrates throughout his verse forms by the agencies of symbolism. Symbols appear in a figure of Yeats’ verse forms and this is a thing that I quite like about his poesy. there are deeper significances behind the words you read. The complexnesss of these symbols vary between verse forms but for the most portion they are used to portray or add to the portraiture of the transiency of clip. First a really simple symbolic message can be observed in the verse form “The Wild Swans at Coole” . As Yeats ponders the transiency of clip and recounts how it has passed him. he exemplifies the messages through the elegant. vernal swans. I believe this is the one exclusion to the above statement as the metaphor of the swans is really clear cut. “And scatter Wheeling in great broken ring. ” “Upon their blatant wings. ” The swans seem to demo small effort in what they are making. which Yeats uses to magnify his deficiency of physical strength and ability as he is but an aging adult male. The subject of clip and the usage of symbols can be seen at legion points throughout the verse form ‘Sailing to Byzantium’ .
Although true this verse form is. to a great extent. more complex than ‘The Wild Swans at Coole’ . I feel no shame in acknowledging that this verse form is a batch more hard to to the full grok and it took more clip to understand the symbols and the significance of the verse form in its entireness. In the rubric. I think that the usage of the word ‘sailing’ doesn’t mean to be sailing literally. but alternatively he uses it the manner of conveyance that is sailing as a metaphor of the journey of ageing. This poem represents Yeats’ journey through life. as he is nearing old age. “An elderly adult male is but a negligible thing. / A tatterdemalion coat upon a stick. ” Yeats becomes yet once more captivated by the thought of aging and symbols present themselves one time more in ‘Sailing to Byzantium’ as he looks to solidify himself for infinity. Two symbols are straight related to his compulsion with the transiency of clip and thoughts of immortality.
First of all there is the “perne in a gyre” . which. because of its round nature. will ne’er halt spinning. Circles are besides frequently associated with continuity of life. The 2nd symbol is non mentioned by name. but alternatively inferred while discoursing the merchandises of “Grecian goldsmiths” . These goldworkers produced some of the greatest decorations of all clip. which even today are still preserved. Yeats did non desire to of all time go reincarnated into the organic structure of another living thing. but to stay beautiful and ageless in an object such as a piece of graphics. The symbols Yeats utilizations are personally my favorite facets of his poesy as they force you to believe deeper into the significance of what he is really seeking to state or picture.
And eventually one great thing about the poesy of William Butler Yeats is his usage of ordinary. mundane linguistic communication. I feel that his usage of rather simple and non-complex words consequences in there being a wider scope of people reading his poesy. He takes ordinary linguistic communication and arranges it in a manner that gives them an about poetic beat. An illustration may be seen in the line “the trees are in their fall beauty. the forest waies are dry. ” In the verse form ‘The Wild Swans at Coole’ .
In decision. I feel that Yeats does cover with a broad scope of different subjects. with the usage of powerful imagination and impressive descriptions. Yeats’ alone pessimism resonates through the well-crafted lines of his work which efficaciously portray his sometimes ambiguous positions. The poesy of William Butler Yeats intrigues me greatly. peculiarly because of his usage of symbols throughout and I really much bask ruminating on the significances within.
