Discuss ways in which Yeats presents the experience of Irish people in Easter 1916. In your answer, discuss the effects of language, imagery and verse form and consider how this poem relates to other poems by Yeats that you have studied (An

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Discuss ways in which Yeats presents the experience of Irish people in ‘Easter 1916. In your answer, discuss the effects of language, imagery and verse form and consider how this poem relates to other poems by Yeats that you have studied (‘An Irish Airman Foresees His Death’ and ‘September 1913’).

‘Easter 1916’ speaks of the aftermath of the rebellion in Northern Ireland, through the eyes of Yeats himself. He tells us about how “a terrible beauty is born”, referring to the working-class men who became restless and began to revolt. This contrasts hugely from ‘September 1913’, where Yeats points out that the workers have a right to be angry, due to the greedy bankers, and employers who pay them very little for their hard work. In ‘An Irish Airman Foresees His Death’, Yeats only focuses on one person, rather than a group of people like he does in ‘Easter 1916’ and ‘September 1913’.

The first stanza primarily focuses on the then-ordinary people, and what they were like before they began to rebel and fight the system. He purposely doesn’t make the first couple of the lines very dramatic, so that we gradually work our way into the more emotional side of the poem, rather than be thrown straight into the deep end. He uses the word “vivid”, a very ambiguous word, to describe the peoples’ faces, to show that the people themselves are interesting, but then uses the words and phrase “grey” and “eighteenth-century houses” to show that they live ordinary lives – there is nothing special about them. In Yeats’ poem, ‘An Irish Airman Foresees His Death’, however, he starts the poem very dramatically, which causes a huge contrast straight away. As I mentioned in the introduction, Yeats has very different opinions on the working men in ‘Easter 1916’ and ‘September 1913’. In his later poem, he seems very emotional and angry with his fellow Irishmen who revolt, when other things are much more important. In ‘September 1913’, Yeats blames the revolts on the employers and businessmen who fumble on “greasy tills”. He sees those who rebel and strike due to their low wages and poor conditions as heroic and that it is good for them to be doing such things. This contrast shows quite clearly that his opinions about his countrymen have changed very dramatically in the space of two and a half years.

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Yeats uses clothing as imagery to get his point across at the end of the first stanza. He speaks about how he used to pass the rebels everyday on the street as acquaintances, and may have even shared a joke with them, thinking of it nothing more than meaningless banter. He uses the word “motley”, which is the patchwork-coloured clothes that are worn often by clowns”. It is only a figure of speech, but it shows us that he was only joking with them all and nothing was serious.

Yeats uses the well-known refrain “a terrible beauty is ...

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An interesting interpretation of the text and the language used and a generally good coverage of the contextual factors; however further exploration of the structure and form is needed. 4 Stars