FREE NOTES: W.B.YEATS
FREE NOTES: MODERN Poetry: W.B. Yeats
Question :Discuss Yeats’ growth as a poet with reference to his poetry.
or , Discuss the main stages of development of Yeats as a poet.
or, Discuss the major themes of Yeats’ poetry
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Answer: The poetic career of W. B. Yeats encompasses a relatively prolonged period. During this time, his attitude to life and arts changed considerably. Besides, he saw rapid changes in his own society and in the outside world. All these helped him to be a dynamic artist, the theme and the style of his poetry being under constant evolution. Thus a study of his poetry tends to reveal that his poetic career falls into at least three distinguishable phases.
In his early years. Yeats was influenced by the Romantic poets, especially Shelley, and his early verse show considerable elements of romanticism in them. This period of “Celtic Twilight” is marked by his use of Irish myth and folklore in his poetry. Such a poem is “ The Lake Isle of Innisfree”. In this poem, Yeats reveals his desire to escape away from the hectic town life to the remote island of Innisfree. He intends to build his own cottage and produce his dailies with his own hands. He also wants to be entertained by the sweet music of the birds and insects.
While Yeats poems written in the first phase have a strong dreamlike and mystical quality, the poetry in the second phase marks a gradual shift towards psychological reality and politics. The elements of dream were increasingly vanishing from his poetry and his style was becoming more condensed. As a whole, the shift was from the romantic tendency to the modern. The poem “The Wilde Swan at Coole” captures this change of attitude and style. As in his earlier poems, in this poem too, Yeats shows his mastery in delineating the beauty of nature.
The trees in the autumn beauty,
The woodland paths are dry,
Under the October twilight the water
Mirrors a still sky.
Here the poet captures the exquisite calm and quietness around the lake at Coole Park. The season of autumn gives an unusual beauty to the trees. The Paths in the woodland are dry. Because the time is the October twilight, the atmosphere is quite serene. The water of the lake is still and it reflects the still sky.
At this period, Yeats’ poetry also reveals his awareness to Irish nationalism. Thus the poem “Easter 1916” depicts the poet’s respect to the Irish nationalists who laid out their lives for the sake of their country. It may be that those persons had led a comic and ordinary life earlier. But their sacrifice has given a meaning to their life and as a result a terrible beauty is born.
Hearts with one purpose alone
Through summer and winter seem
Enchanted to a stone
To trouble the living stream.
Yeats’ sense of nationalism is closely welded to his sense of history and myth. Thus many poems of the second phase deal with Yeats’ conception about history , myth and legends. Yeats shows his respect to the tradition in “A Prayer for my Daughter”, where he wants for her daughter a husband whose family would respect traditional custom. The poet says, “How but in custom and in ceremony
Are innocence and beauty born?
On the other hand, “The Second Coming” deals with the idea that history and civilization move in a cyclical course with regular ups and downs. Yeats writes, “ Things fall apart, the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world...”
The poet seems to say that the best moment of Christian civilization is coming to an end, paving the way for disorder and chaos.
The third and final phase of Yeats development as a poet rests on his attempt to reconcile the discordant elements of life and society. The poet develops his theory of anarchy, violence and tragedy in human life. For instance, the poem “The Circus Animal’s Desertion” deals with his view on poetry and arts. The poet reviews his long career as a writer. In his early days, he used to write about Irish myths, legends, history and politics. He used to writer about the heroic deeds of the Irish hero Oisin and his beloved.
In the concluding remarks, it can be said that Yeats career as a poet saw a steady and climatic development. It is a development from immaturity to maturity and from romanticism to realism. As days passed by, Yeats vision about life, society, history and civilization took a more concrete shape. The poet finally becomes able to reach a synthesis and pass his judgment on life and society wit an air of finality.
Date : 15/09/2009Amir Mohammad kabir, M.A (2007)
Question :Discuss Yeats’ growth as a poet with reference to his poetry.
or , Discuss the main stages of development of Yeats as a poet.
or, Discuss the major themes of Yeats’ poetry
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Answer: The poetic career of W. B. Yeats encompasses a relatively prolonged period. During this time, his attitude to life and arts changed considerably. Besides, he saw rapid changes in his own society and in the outside world. All these helped him to be a dynamic artist, the theme and the style of his poetry being under constant evolution. Thus a study of his poetry tends to reveal that his poetic career falls into at least three distinguishable phases.
In his early years. Yeats was influenced by the Romantic poets, especially Shelley, and his early verse show considerable elements of romanticism in them. This period of “Celtic Twilight” is marked by his use of Irish myth and folklore in his poetry. Such a poem is “ The Lake Isle of Innisfree”. In this poem, Yeats reveals his desire to escape away from the hectic town life to the remote island of Innisfree. He intends to build his own cottage and produce his dailies with his own hands. He also wants to be entertained by the sweet music of the birds and insects.
While Yeats poems written in the first phase have a strong dreamlike and mystical quality, the poetry in the second phase marks a gradual shift towards psychological reality and politics. The elements of dream were increasingly vanishing from his poetry and his style was becoming more condensed. As a whole, the shift was from the romantic tendency to the modern. The poem “The Wilde Swan at Coole” captures this change of attitude and style. As in his earlier poems, in this poem too, Yeats shows his mastery in delineating the beauty of nature.
The trees in the autumn beauty,
The woodland paths are dry,
Under the October twilight the water
Mirrors a still sky.
Here the poet captures the exquisite calm and quietness around the lake at Coole Park. The season of autumn gives an unusual beauty to the trees. The Paths in the woodland are dry. Because the time is the October twilight, the atmosphere is quite serene. The water of the lake is still and it reflects the still sky.
At this period, Yeats’ poetry also reveals his awareness to Irish nationalism. Thus the poem “Easter 1916” depicts the poet’s respect to the Irish nationalists who laid out their lives for the sake of their country. It may be that those persons had led a comic and ordinary life earlier. But their sacrifice has given a meaning to their life and as a result a terrible beauty is born.
Hearts with one purpose alone
Through summer and winter seem
Enchanted to a stone
To trouble the living stream.
Yeats’ sense of nationalism is closely welded to his sense of history and myth. Thus many poems of the second phase deal with Yeats’ conception about history , myth and legends. Yeats shows his respect to the tradition in “A Prayer for my Daughter”, where he wants for her daughter a husband whose family would respect traditional custom. The poet says, “How but in custom and in ceremony
Are innocence and beauty born?
On the other hand, “The Second Coming” deals with the idea that history and civilization move in a cyclical course with regular ups and downs. Yeats writes, “ Things fall apart, the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world...”
The poet seems to say that the best moment of Christian civilization is coming to an end, paving the way for disorder and chaos.
The third and final phase of Yeats development as a poet rests on his attempt to reconcile the discordant elements of life and society. The poet develops his theory of anarchy, violence and tragedy in human life. For instance, the poem “The Circus Animal’s Desertion” deals with his view on poetry and arts. The poet reviews his long career as a writer. In his early days, he used to write about Irish myths, legends, history and politics. He used to writer about the heroic deeds of the Irish hero Oisin and his beloved.
In the concluding remarks, it can be said that Yeats career as a poet saw a steady and climatic development. It is a development from immaturity to maturity and from romanticism to realism. As days passed by, Yeats vision about life, society, history and civilization took a more concrete shape. The poet finally becomes able to reach a synthesis and pass his judgment on life and society wit an air of finality.
Date : 15/09/2009Amir Mohammad kabir, M.A (2007)
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