FREE ESSAY ON WRITING FOR FREE IRELAND: YEATS'S POETRY

WRITING FOR FREE IRELAND: YEATS'S POETRY

Edmund Chung
Ms. Hallas
OAC English Period 3
2 June 2001 
Writing for Free Ireland: Yeats's Poetry
William Butler Yeats was an Irish poet, a dramatist, and a prose writer - one of the
greatest English-language poets of the twentieth century. (Yeats 1) His early poetry and
drama acquired ideas from Irish fable and arcane study. (Eiermann 1) Yeats used the
themes of nationalism, freedom from oppression, social division, and unity when writing
about his country. Yeats, an Irish nationalist, used the three poems, "To Ireland in the
Coming Times," "September 1913" and "Easter 1916" which revealed an expression of his
feelings about the War of Irish Independence through theme, mood and figurative
language.
The theme of nationalism dominates in "To Ireland in the Coming times" and in "Easter
1916." In the former poem, Yeats suggested the idea of Irish brotherhood to achieve
justice for Ireland, "True brother of a company, that sang, to sweeten Ireland's wrong"
(Finneran 50). Although he wanted to fight for Ireland's freedom, he did not participate
in any military activities. Instead, he used songs and poems to reflect the situation in
Ireland:
I cast my heart into my rhymes,
That you, in the dim coming times,
May know how my heart went with them (Finneran 51)
In the latter poem, he mentioned the names of the national heroes such as MacDonagh who
died for the rebellion (Abrams 2308) and said, "Now and in time to be, / Whenever green
is worn," (Finneran 182). Green, being the colour of the soldiers' uniforms and also the
national colour of Ireland, alluded that the war was still going on in Ireland.
The theme of freedom from oppression was introduced in "September 1913." Although Yeats
loved his country, he often criticized it. He left Ireland after he published this poem
which stated that the Ireland of his imagination no longer existed, "Romantic Ireland's
dead and gone, / It's with O'Leary in the grave." (Finneran 108). Yeats implied that
Irish freedom fighters, such as O'Leary, have died in vain. He also inferred that there
were no longer any people who were willing to fight for Ireland:
Yet they were of a different kind,
The names that stilled your childish play,
They have gone about the world like wind, (Finneran 108)
The contemporary Roman Catholic middle classes had defeated the cause for which Yeats
fought for at that time; hence Yeats felt oppressed by his own people. (Abram 2303)
The theme of social division appeared in "September 1913" because Yeats detested the
middle classes and their Philistine money grabbing (Abrams 2303) as describe in the first
three lines: 
What need you, being come to sense, 
But fumble in a greasy till
And add the halfpence to the pence (Finneran 108)
To Yeats, the middle classes had forgotten their own history. They insulted the memories
of the Irish heroes who fought for freedom and the rights to be Catholic. Through this
poem, Yeats suggested that the middle classes only cared about money, not the freedom of
their country. He tended to romanticize the aristocracy and peasants but hated the middle
classes for their indifference to Ireland. (Abrams 2303) Yeats also implied that because
of the selfishness, they made everything meaningless, destroying the romantic Ireland.
In contrast, the poems "To Ireland in the Coming Times" and "Easter 1916" carried the
theme of unity. In the former poem, Yeats said, "That you, in the dim coming times, / May
know how my heart went with them" (Finneran 51). He was saying that his dreams for
Ireland would live on even when he was dead. Yeats wrote the latter poem after the Easter
Rebellion. (Abrams 2307) It expressed the theme of unity by Yeats's action of returning
to Ireland and reconciling with the middle classes. This happened when he realized that
the middle classes were behind the rebellion. He used the word 'our' in both poems, which
also revealed a strong idea of unity.
Yeats used different tones in these poems because they were written in three different
stages of his career. "To Ireland in the Coming Times" was written in 1896 during the
early stage of Yeats's career. He created a sentimental and nostalgic mood when he wrote,
"Ah, faeries, dancing under the moon, / A Druid land, a Druid tune!" (Finneran 50). In
his mind, Ireland was an idyllic, enchanted place. By mentioning druids, he was honouring
Ireland's past. Elsewhere, he said, "Nor be I any less of them, / Because the
red-rose-bordered hem" (Finneran 50). Yeats was upset about the war in Ireland and the
death of the nationalists. In this poem, he thought that Ireland was a glorious and
romantic land. However, after the war of Irish Independence, the beauty was stained with
blood. Yeats's task was to recapture Ireland's glory.
"September 1913" was written in the year 1913 during the war of Irish Independence. He
changed his mood from sentimental to resentful and pessimistic, since the Roman Catholic
middle classes had done nothing to protect their country. Yeats resented their attitudes
towards the country, which made Yeats resent them as a whole. He expressed his thought
through this poem and by leaving Ireland to show his dissatisfaction.
In 1916, Yeats returned to Ireland because he acknowledged that the middle classes had
Irish honour. In previous poems, Yeats mentioned the names of freedom fighters in order
to define the idea of Irish honour. In "Easter 1916," Yeats named the middle classes
heroes who fought in the Easter rebellion. By doing so, he symbolically included them in
Irish history. The poem was a retraction of "September." (Abrams 1946) The mood in this
poem was harmonic and he apologized in the poem by saying:
Polite meaningless words
And thought before I had done
Of a mocking tale or a gibe
To please a companion (Finneran 180)
These lines reveal his regret about misjudging them. Moreover, there was a high cost to
find out that truth. Thus, the mood was bittersweet, "All changed, changed utterly / A
terrible beauty is born" (Finneran 180). Throughout the poem, Yeats hinted that the war
between the British and Irish would continue. However, he suggested that although Ireland
would be the eventual victor in the battle, many Irish people would sacrifice their lives
during the war. Therefore, he reminded the audience that there was a terrible price for
freedom.
Yeats used figurative language to indicate the situation in Ireland. The poetic devices
that he mainly used in these poems were symbolism, imagery, personification and oxymoron.
Symbolism was widely used in "September 1913" and "Easter 1916." In the former poem, he
used "wild geese spread" and "wing upon every tide" (Finneran 108) to symbolize the
nationalists who fled to different countries such as Spain, France and Austria. The names
of some of the nationalists who sacrificed their lives fighting for freedom symbolize the
glory of Ireland. Symbolism was also used in the title of the latter poem. The title word
"Easter" (Finneran 180) referred to the resurrection of Christ, so it symbolized rebirth.
Thus, it also symbolized the rebirth of Yeats connection with Ireland and his opinion of
the middle classes.
In "To Ireland in the Coming Times," Yeats said, "Because the red-rose-bordered hem / Of
her, whose history began" (Finneran 50). Yeats was personifying Ireland as a woman
wearing a dress. Yeats wanted to imply that the history of Ireland was born by comparing
with a woman who was giving birth after a difficult labour with "red" symbolizing blood.
Another example of personifying Ireland as a human being was "Made Ireland as a human
being to beat;" (Finneran 50). The heartbeat could symbolize life, which meant the
history of Ireland began and would live on.
Imagery is sensory or pictorial language that is used to enrich meaning. It may appeal to
the eye, ear, taste, smell, touch, or movement, and it may be used symbolically. It often
conveys through similes, metaphors, or personifications. (Rosenberg 877)
Imagery was one of the important elements in the poem "To Ireland in the Coming Times"
and "September 1913." Yeats used the image of candles being lit to refer the beginning of
the Irish history in the poem "To Ireland in the Coming Times." He wrote, "And time bade
all his candles flare, / To light a measure here and there" (Finneran 50). He was
creating an image of light shining all over Ireland to allude to the dawn of history in
Ireland. An example of imagery that Yeats used in "September 1913" described the marrow
being dried from the bone. He wrote, "And prayer to shivering prayer, until you have
dried the marrow from the bone" (Finneran 108). The inclusion of this cruel image was to
bring a message that taking money from other people was as cruel as sucking out the
marrow from their bones.
An oxymoron is a paradoxical utterance conjoining two terms that are contrary in ordinary
usage. (Abrams 127) In "Easter 1916," Yeats used an oxymoron to reveal the future of
Ireland by saying this line, "A terrible beauty is born." (Finneran 180). He repeated
this statement in every stanza, for a total of four times. When this line was first read,
it seemed impossible because these two words contradicted each other. However, this
contradiction existed in Ireland and predicted the future of this place. Yeats was using
"terrible" to describe the Irish people who died in the war while "beauty" was used to
describe the future victory of Ireland and the unity of those who were fighting for
freedom.
The themes in Yeats's "To Ireland in the Coming Times," "September 1913" and "Easter
1916" left the readers with a deep impression about Irish nationalism. These poems
described the changes in Ireland and expressed Yeats's opinion about each period
according to each situation. He also tried to make his readers more concerned about
Ireland. The moods he created also played an important role in these three poems. They
were powerful and direct, leading his readers to feel the same way he did. The usage of
figurative language could support the themes and moods that he used in different poems
and he persuaded his readers to believe what he said was true. When comparing these three
different elements in the poems, mood is the most effective technique since nationalism
is based on the emotions one feels for one's country. The mood is what links the themes
and figurative language that attract readers' attention.
Bibliography List
Abrams, M. H. et al. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. 5th ed. New York: W. W.
Norton & Company, Inc., 1986.
Eiermann, Katharena. "Katharena's 'The Magic of Yeats'." Yeats: Life and Times
http://members.aol.com/KatharenaE/private/Pweek/Yeats/YLife.html (17 Feb. 2001).
Finneran, Richard J. The Collected Poems of W. B. Yeats. 2nd ed. New York: Simon &
Schuster Inc., 1996.
"Yeats, William Butler". Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia. 1996 ed.