W.B. Yeats and History Essay - 1729 Words

Yeats in Time: The Poets Place in History All things can tempt me from this craft of verse: One time it was a womans face, or worse-- The seeming needs of my fool-driven land; Now nothing but comes readier to the hand Than this accustomed toil. 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†¦show more content†¦The sword signifies his words, which he holds in the upstairs of his mind. This metaphor gives the words great power. Either on a page or spoken, they can be called upon for battle to violently disrupt the world. However, Yeats is not concrete in presenting this perception as accurate. The last two lines highlight the questioning ?Did not? which begins the previous acclamation of poetic influence. Here the speaker gives a different perspective, saying, Yet would be now, could I but have my wish, / Colder and dumber and deafer than a fish. (9-10). Now, Yeatss vision of the poet is cold, completely lacking passion. He is dumb and therefore unable to influence others with his words. He is deaf and therefore unable to be influenced by the words of others. Many levels of interaction in the present world are taken away from the poet by this image; but, the sense of sight remains. Just as the fish can only survive in water, the poet can only function as an observer. In The Lake Isle of Innisfree (15), Yeats takes this purely perceptive role and places it in the context of time. In the last three lines, the poet says (in the present tense), I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore; / While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements gray/ I hear it in my deep hearts core. (11-12). Throughout these lines, the poet stands completely stationary upon the lifeless pavement, never interacting with his environment. Unlike the deaf fish described in theShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of The Second Coming By W. B. Yeats1190 Words   |  5 PagesWilliam Butler Yeats was a great Irish poet of the twentieth century. During his lifespan World War I occurred, along with its resulting political upheaval. He also lived in the century before the change of the millennium, a theme touched upon in his poems. He, like many other authors, incorporated the events that occurred during his life into his work. This important factor of the time period is clearly re flected in his work, â€Å"The Second Coming.† The critical consensus regarding the poem â€Å"The SecondRead More Use of Symbols in Yeatss Work, A Vision Essay3300 Words   |  14 PagesUse of Symbols in Yeatss Work, A Vision In his 1901 essay Magic, Yeats writes, I cannot now think symbols less than the greatest of all powers whether they are used consciously by the masters of magic, or half unconsciously by their successors, the poet, the musician and the artist (p. 28). Later, in his introduction to A Vision, he explains, I put the Tower and the Winding Stair together into evidence to show that my poetry has gained in self possession and power. I owe this changeRead MoreYeats Essay2604 Words   |  11 PagesW.B Yeats Essay Write an essay in which you give your reasons for liking/not liking the poetry of W.B Yeats. Support your points by reference to or quotation from, the poems that are on your course. 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