In your view, how have poetic techniques been used to reveal memorable ideas in Yeats poetry?

by jcoughlan94 (student)

In your view, how have poetic techniques been used to reveal memorable ideas in Yeats’ poetry?

William Butler Yeats clever manipulation of language through the use of poetic techniques has allowed him to instill amongst his readers memorable and at times provocative ideas, ensuring his works endure throughout time. In his selected poems, The Second Coming and The Wild Swans at Coole Yeats illuminates our understanding of the complexity of conflicting desire, the passage of time and its alteration of perception. It is through this poetic treatment of ideas that Yeat’s effectively enlightens the reader to memorable ideas about the nature of humanity.

The Second Coming, written in 1916 and published in 1919 explores the conflicting desires of the poet, William Butler Yeats, during a period of inevitable revolution and copious bloodshed. Yeats’s theory on the shifting of the metaphysical gyres states that a complete reversal of values is immanent and will ultimately bring about revolutionary change and the end of the Christian dominated era.Yeats fear of carnage and needless death is indicative of his context as the world was overwhelmed with WWI, the Bolshevik Revolution and the 1916 Easter Uprising. This convinces responders that whilst Yeats poetry is often labeled ‘transcendental’ (George Masan University), it is also derived from contextual inspiration. Yeats portrays his yearning for structure through the apocalyptic imagery of the “blood-dimmed tide”. This blood imagery illustrates Yeats’s fear of the death and bloodshed associated with revolution. The poet’s subconscious yearning for structure illustrates his sense of uncertainty towards inevitable change is further evident through the oxymoron “mere-anarchy.” By depicting anarchy as common place, Yeats reaffirms our understanding of the tumultuous damage and carnage of revolution, highlighting both his personal fears and understanding of the cyclical nature of historical revolutions – thus revealing memorable ideas which resonate with the reader.

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Similarly, Yeats explores the passage of time through the poetic treatment of ideas in the reflective poem The Wild Swans at Coole, which is a testament to the heartache when living in a time when “all’s changed”. Yeats explores the passage of time through seasonal imagery “the nineteenth autumn has come upon me”. The setting of the poem is highly symbolic of Yeats stage in his life with “autumn” and “twilight” both suggesting a time of decline and transition. The sombre tone of the poem is established through the connotations of deterioration and death associated with autumn. Yeats examines his own private emotional upheavals as he acknowledges his loneliness and loss of vigour as he reaches middle age: “and now my heart is sore.” The poet reflects on his impending mortality in direct contrast to the perennial youth of the swans through his use of archaic language which suggests an inversion of time when he talks of the “nine-and-fifty swans.” This inversion of the passage of time emphasises the beauty and mortality of the swans in direct contrast to the melancholic views of the poet in regards to his ageing process. This provocative examination of memorable ideas enhances the readers understanding of the personal emotions of the poet which they can resonate with long after reading the poem.

Throughout The Second Coming the sense of doubt and lack of discipline which permeates Yeats’ poetry is illustrated through the breakdown of the poems structure and versification. The poem begins rhythmically, “turning and turning in the widening gyre,” then slowly becomes more divergent as the paradigmatic shift is explored, “and the worst/are filled with passionate intensity.” The disintegration of the poetic rhyme and structure mirrors the chaotic transitions of the new era and highlights the integrity of Yeats’ poetry as he explores the cyclical nature of history.However, this fear of anarchy and chaos is then starkly contrasted to the conflicting desire and fascination for a new paganistic era. The poets insatiable curiosity for foreign spirituality, cults and folklore is expressed through the image of the Egyptian sphinx with a “gaze as blank and pitiless as the sun”. This fascination with the rise of polytheism is further developed through the biblical allusion of the great beast who “slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?” This final rhetorical question highlights the poet’s own uncertainty as to which desire is greater; that of structure or his undeniable fascination with the unknown. By comparing the rise of polytheism to the birth of Christ, Yeats examines these conflicting desires and the provocative ideas which shape the private mindset of the poet and the poem itself. Thus, through Yeats sophisticated poetic treatment of ideas, the reader is engaged and their understanding of Yeats poetry is enhanced as the provocative concept of the cyclical nature of history leads them to wonder what the future may hold.

Furthermore, in The Wild Swans at Coole the melancholic mood of the poem can also be directly attributed to the context in which Yeats was writing – in which both his lover Maude Gonne and her daughter had refused his marriage proposals.The idea that one of the “nine-and-fifty” swans is alone metaphorically represents Yeats as a lone, unpaired soul who, like the unrounded numbers, feels incomplete. The swans become an objective correlative to represent Yeats’s solitary state and feelings of isolation. Through the use of first person Yeats creates a strong personal voice whereby he appears lonely and secluded, especially when juxtaposed with his repeated references to the swans as “them” or “they” due to their loyal mating patterns. Personal voice is used when he mourns that he “trod with a lighter tread” when it was his “first time on this shore”, which signifies Yeats reflection on time passing and his yearning for youth, love and vitality. This theme of the inevitably of the ageing process coupled with the concept unrequited love throughout the poem is one which evokes memorable ideas for the audience as it positions us to emphathise with the poet as they are relatable human emotions. Thus, his poem reveals memorable ideas which resonate with the reader as he speaks to us across time, gender, culture and beliefs. Modern critic F. Reid states “One may like it or one may not but it would be difficult to remain untouched by it,” which confirms that Yeats ability to articulate the human condition allows the intense emotion of love in the poem to be relatable and accessible. Therefore, through the sophisticated implementation of poetic techniques to evoke universal human emotions within the reader, memorable ideas are revealed which resonate with the audience long after reading the poem.

It is through Yeats clever manipulation of language and employment of poetic devices, whilst subtly alluding to his personal theories and philosophies that Yeats is able to reveal to his readers memorable ideas, clearly evident in the tremendous concepts that drive the poems of The Second Coming and Wild Swans at Coole.