William Butler Yeats' poem "The Second Coming" is filled with metaphoric imagery that reflects the tumultuous times of Yeats' Ireland as well as its actual physical geography.

William Butler Yeats' poem "The Second Coming" is filled with metaphoric imagery that reflects the tumultuous times of Yeats' Ireland as well as its actual physical geography. As a poet, Yeats was greatly in tune with his Irish roots and brings those strands together often in his work. Yeats was born in 1865 in Dublin, Ireland. He was the son of a painter and grandson to a rector in the Church of Ireland. At a very early age, young Yeats was exposed the myths and fairy tales of the Irish countryside while spending time at his grandparents' home. (Cahill 20) It is obvious that much of his poetry, especially that written during his early years, was written out of the Irish influence of his childhood. Jonathan Allison in his essay "W.B. Yeats, Space, and Cultural Nationalism" states that, "Homelands are important bases for ethnic survival, not only because they delimit communal boundaries, but also because of the poetic landscapes they offer to members of even the exiled ethnic." (58) The landscape and influences of Yeats' childhood were obviously major factors in his writings. Yeats' is quoted as saying that, "The mystical life is the centre of all that I do and all that think and all that I write." (Cahill 21) Irish mysticism, the countryside and Yeats' religious background are readily evident in "The Second Coming." The first two lines present a vivid image of

  • Word count: 1779
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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Analysis of Leda and the Swan. Greek mythology.

Analysis of Leda and the Swan. Greek mythology has, throughout history, been the subject of much debate and interpretation. Conjuring up images of bloody battles and crumbling cities, its descriptions of the epic battle between good and evil still have remarkable relevance and continue to resonate with poignancy in our bleak, war-torn society. The poem Leda and the Swan, written by William Butler Yeats, attempts to shed new light on what is arguably one of Ancient Greece's most controversial myths. In this essay I aim to study the poem in more depth, analysing what Yeats says and how he says it. Leda and the Swan is an interpretation of the Greek myth wherein Zeus, in the form of a swan, violated a young woman, who gave birth to Helen and Clytemnestra. Helen's flight with Paris to Troy, leaving her husband Menelaus (Agamemnon's brother) caused the war between the Greeks and the Trojans. Clytemnestra then murdered her husband Agamemnon on his return from victory at Troy. The poem begins with Yeats emphasising the brutality of Zeus' actions, describing the initial impact as a "sudden blow". The two words carry the connotation of brutality, urgency and forcefulness; the harshness of the word "sudden" consolidating the phrase's power. There is an implication that the action is unnaturally rapid, thus godlike and powerful. The power and forcefulness of Zeus' actions is

  • Word count: 1549
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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'An unrealistic venture, doomed from the start'. Comment on this view of the Easter Rising in 1916.

'An unrealistic venture, doomed from the start'. Comment on this view of the Easter Rising in 1916. The 1916 Rebellion can quite safely be summarised as a short-term failure, with no immediate impact on the succouring of Irish politics. It achieved only the downfall of individuals such as James Connelly and Tom Clarke, and only remained particularly prominent in future times as a symbolic event of nationalistic martyrdom. In conception, there was very little planning involved. It was arguably badly timed, and involved too many points of awkwardness, most notably the fact that it only consisted of 1,600 men and woman fighting on the rebellion's side. Because of this, it certainly lost its claim to be a 'national rising', and was never seriously capable of success. Despite all, there are some who hold the view that the Easter Rising of 1916 did have some important repercussions. Although the Rebellion itself was rather feeble, it did have passionate roots. In earlier years, many important figures had united in an effort to solve the 'Irish Question' - the two most prominent of these being Eoin MacNeill and John Redmond. MacNeill managed to call to arms 11,000 men strong under his leadership, and they became known as the 'Irish Volunteers'. Redmond, on the other hand, had an even greater following - the 'National Volunteers' which consisting of 180, 000 men. Their general aim

  • Word count: 1151
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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Leda and the Swan

Leda and the Swan The structure of the poem, Leda and the Swan, seems disorganized at first, but upon a closer look we can see that the last line of the third stanza, and the first line of the fourth stanza are actually one. By counting them this way, the poem is 14 lines long, and is beginning to show the structure of a sonnet. This brings us to the rhyme scheme of the poem, which would have been random is there were 15 lines, but instead it has a regular rhyme scheme of abab cdcd efgefg. The rhyme scheme and structure of the poem support the fact that the poem is probably a sonnet. Most sonnets can be divided into an octave and a sestet, as is the case with this poem. Not only does the rhyme scheme change after the octave, so does the pace and tone of the poem. The first eight lines offer us almost a narrative of the scene that is taking place, and proceed at quite a fast pace. The later six lines significantly slow down and the words become more obscure. The octave can also be divided into the two stanzas. The first stanza gives us information about the actual attack, while the second stanza asks what Leda could possibly have done. The sudden beginning and the vague ending of the poem offer a variation in the structure of a traditional sonnet. In the poem, the language used to describe Leda and the language used to describe the Swan is quite contrasting. If we look at

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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Love is a common theme in poetry and it has been written about for hundreds of years. Two of the most famous poets in history are William Shakespeare and W.B. Yeats. Both of these poets used the love theme very often in their poems.

Love is a common theme in poetry and it has been written about for hundreds of years. Two of the most famous poets in history are William Shakespeare and W.B. Yeats. Both of these poets used the love theme very often in their poems. William Shakespeare was born in 1564 and died in 1616. He was from Stratford, Upon Avon and was famous for writing plays. William Shakespeare was a world-renowned playwright. He wrote the famous play 'Macbeth' and is still performed hundreds of years later. Shakespeare had written most of his poems before 1600. This was a period of change when people living in medieval times developed into modern times. He wrote mainly about love and nature and his poetry was very subjective and contained very deep feelings. W.B. Yeats was born in 1865 and died in 1939. He was always a poet. He was a protestant man from Dublin and was a nationalist. Yeats tended to use Irish mythology in his poems. He was a shy man who fell in love with a lady called Maud Gonne. He asked her to marry him on several occasions but she refused. Instead she married a man called Major John McBride. Yeats' poems are very carefully crafted and his love poems more to do with longing than fulfilment. His poetry often relates back to Maud Gonne. He was devastated that she would not marry him and she said if she did Ireland would lose their best poet. One of these very original yet very deep

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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Stealing Innocence

Stealing Innocence There are many who read the story of "Leda and the Swan" who feel utter contempt for the god and his lust, and well that they should. The story of Leda seems to ring true in even these modern times as we watch shows like "Law and Order: SVU" or hear of innocent women being attacked in the most perverted manner. In its various versions by Yeats the story of "Leda and the Swan" gets progressively less flowery with its imagery and more clear cut in its descriptions of Leda's stolen innocence. Later another author would add her perspective to what truly happened to Leda on that fateful day. And as the story changed from one version to another it becomes easier to see the dreadful act committed by the god. The story of "Leda and the Swan" was set down thousands of years ago by Greek writers attempting to explain history through mythology. They speak of the lustful king of the gods, Zeus, falling in love with a beautiful mortal woman. But she is married and refuses to love the god or consent to his advances. There are some critics, who believe that this is the story of seduction rather than rape, but "Some versions suggest seduction rather than rape, but...The line can be a fine one but it would have been fairer for Zeus to accept the responsibility of rape as the Greeks took a severe view of the degree of complicity of a married woman allowing herself to

  • Word count: 1485
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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How is the theme of change represented in "Wild Swans at Coole"?

‘‘The nineteenth autumn has come upon me Since I first made my count’’ Discuss the ways in which Yeats presents change in ‘Wild Swans at Coole’. Yeats presents the theme of change in ‘Wild Swans at Coole’ as he (as the persona in the poem) watches the swans and contrasts that while everything in his life has changed, the swans remain the same as they always have been. Yeats writes ‘‘the nineteenth autumn has come upon me Since I first made my count”, to show the reader that nineteen years have passed since Yeats first came to the water and watched the swans. Coole was owned by Yeats’ friend Lady Gregory, so was a place Yeats went to reflect. The lake allows the persona to ponder and dwell on his loneliness, as he is still without a partner. The ‘autumn’ gives the reader the idea of seasons, and autumn being a particular time in the year important to Yeats. Being a season, it also introduces the idea of cycles of the year: Yeats has shown in other poems like The Second Coming that the passing of time and cycles were significant to him. Nineteen years is a long amount of time, and the poem being published in 1917 shows that in the nineteen years of his life prior to the poem, a lot had happened- the first world war, the civil war and (perhaps the main focus of this poem) many rejected marriage proposals to Maud Gonne. ‘Since I first’ gives a

  • Word count: 1436
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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How does Yeats present death in The Man and the Echo?

How does Yeats present death in “The Man and the Echo”? The “Man and the Echo”, written in 1938 just months before Yeats’s death, is a poem heavily associated with regret, philosophy, and death. The dominating theme of the poem seems to be death, and Yeats uses a variety of techniques to portray his thoughts and feelings about it. The poem begins with the image that Yeats is trapped in an isolated cave, and the effect this creates is that it reflects “Man’s” effort to control the consequences of his voice. The fact that Yeats goes to a bottom of a put to get away from the world could suggest that he is ridden with guilt and regret, and is preparing himself for death. Evidence for this guilt is that he rhetorically asks whether “that play of mine send out men the English shot” or “Did words of mine put too great strain on that woman’s reeling brain”(referring to Margo Collins). Man questions the effect of his written work on readers and is plagued with guilt for events his work potentially caused. He worries that his words caused negative action, such as inspiring men to go to war, and failed to cause positive action, such as stopping a house from being “wrecked.” His unanswered questions, however, reflect the impossibility of knowing the actual effect of his words. He is haunted by a sense of unknowing about questions of life, philosophy and

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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Discuss ways in which Yeats presents his vision in The Cold Heaven

Discuss ways in which Yeats presents his vision in ‘The Cold Heaven’ ‘The Cold Heaven’ presents Yeats’ epiphany in his understanding of his life; the vision of the extremes, the icy cold bleakness of life, as well as the hysteria which erupts from him upon this realisation. His vision of life is presented with searing pain, memories of his wasted youth and sadness in his relations to Maud Gonne which eventually consume his willpower, and he concludes that life is without use, a punishment from ‘the injustice of the skies’. Yeats’ vision focuses on the pain in life, describing his youth memories as ones ‘that should be out of season’; he has spent much of his youth in search of Maud Gonne, only to be met with rejection and in this moment of realisation he senses that he has in fact wasted his youth, and has been unable to fulfil his goals of creating happy memories. This failure is attributed to Yeats’ vision, where he sees that the future only holds a bleak outcome for him: his version of ‘heaven’ is only described ‘as though ice burned’ in this heaven, and ‘was but the more ice’, a supposed paradise that to him will only bring him more pain. The iciness in Yeats’ ‘heaven’ creates the painful image of raw coldness, almost akin to his vision itself, a cold and unhopeful view of his life ahead. The vivid description of ice also serves

  • Word count: 1246
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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Discuss Yeats presentation of how Ireland has changed in September 1913

Discuss Yeats’ presentation of how Ireland has changed in ‘September 1913’. In your answer, explore the effects of language, imagery and verse form and consider how this poem relates to other poems by Yeats ‘September 1913’ reflects upon Yeats’ distaste at the modern state of Ireland; the poet discusses his outrage at the fact that the Irish society has become one that is self-absorbed, and Yeats condemns the fact that Irish culture and art is no longer in the prime focus of society, instead lost to materialism and mundane routine. Yeats’ initial gripe is revealed in the first line of the poem, where he questions Irish society ‘What need you, being come to sense’; he sees the new modern society as one full of disappointment, and an apparent lack of purpose. He presents his views of disgust at the fact that society has being stagnated and its life force drained from it, ‘you have dried the marrow from the bone’. Significantly Yeats puts the blame on the Irish themselves – the first stanza takes on an accusatory tone in that the poet directly and repetitively refers to the people as ‘You’. Yeats especially seems angry with the fact that Ireland has not changed for the better; people are still described as adding ‘prayer to shivering prayer’, alluding to the un-pragmatic nature of society, who are perceived by Yeats as hopeless and inert in

  • Word count: 1039
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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