W B YEATS Leaving Certificate Poetry Born in

W. B. YEATS Leaving Certificate Poetry

Born in Sandymount, Dublin in 1865 into an Angle-Irish family. When Yeats was a child, his father gave up his career in law and moved the family to London to pursue his passion for painting. • Although talented, Yeats’ father, John Butler Yeats was never able to make painting pay and the family struggled financially. In 1872, the family travelled to Sligo for a summer holiday, staying with his mother’s family. The holiday lasted almost two and a half years and was a vital experience for Yeats. He fell in love with the landscape and these memories stayed with him his whole life. • In 1880 the family moved back to Dublin, settling in Howth. W. B. YEATS BIOGRAPHY

W. B. YEATS: BIOGRAPHY Yeats struggled in school but spent a lot of time at his father’s studio where he met artists and writers. John Butler Yeats constantly encouraged his children in the world of ideas, philosophy and art. Despite their Anglo-Irish background, Yeats’ parents were broadly supportive of Irish Nationalism. Yeats, in turn, was passionate about the Irish cause. In 1885 he met the Fenian activist John O’Leary, whose romanticised view of the nation struck a chord with Yeats. O’Leary’s twenty year imprisonment, his patriotism and his devotion to cultural, rather than military, nationalism all held an attraction for the young Yeats.

W. B. YEATS: BIOGRAPHY Yeats’ writings began to be published in newspapers and journals. His first work, an epic poem, The Wanderings of Oisín, was published in 1887. It was written in the form of a dialogue between St. Patrick and Oisín, the ancient Irish hero. Yeats was immediately recognised as a significant poet. Throughout the 1890’s, Yeats became fascinated by the occult, ritual magic and mystic Celtic tales, all of which were to influence his writings.

W. B. YEATS: BIOGRAPHY In 1889, William met Maud Gonne. He immediately fell in love with her and over the years frequently asked her to marry him. They never married but she became an inspiration for his poetry and he wrote many poems about her and for her. Maud Gonne refused each proposal, partly because she believed that Yeats’ unrequited love for her inspired his greatest poetry. Gonne went on to marry the republican icon John Mac. Bride, though the marriage did not last long.

W. B. YEATS: BIOGRAPHY Yeats met Lady Gregory in 1896. The following summer he spent two months at her house, Coole Park, in Galway, the first of many summers he spent there. They collected folklore together and she provided him with space to write. Yeats and others set up the Irish National Theatre Society to perform plays with a distinctly Irish theme. This led to the establishment of the Abbey Theatre in 1904. Yeats was very aware of the politics of the time. In January 1907, the Abbey put on a new play by J. M. Synge, The Playboy of the Western World. Audiences were outraged and riots ensued.

In 1912, Yeats had met Georgie Hyde-Lees. He called her George and they were married on October 20 th, 1917, Yeats aged 52. William and George’s daughter, Anne was born in 1919, followed by a son, Michael, two years later. In 1923 Yeats was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, the first Irish person to achieve that honour. (Since then George Bernard Shaw, Samuel Beckett and Seamus Heaney have also won. ) Yeats remained a prolific writer through ill health and in 1939 he died in France at the age of 73. He was later exhumed and buried in Sligo.

LAKE ISLE OF INNISFREE � Yeats wants to go and live on the island of Innisfree. He would like to live there by himself and lead a simple life – building a small cabin and growing his own food. � “Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honeybee”

LAKE ISLE OF INNISFREE � The poet describes the tranquillity of the island. The mornings are very peaceful and filled with sounds of crickets chirping “for peace comes dropping slow”. � At noon the heather glows purple in the sunlight. At night the glittering stars are reflected in the water.

LAKE ISLE OF INNISFREE � The thought of Innisfree is always in the poet’s mind and heart: “I hear it in the deep heart’s core”. � He is always imagining the pleasant sounds of its waters: “for always night and day/ I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore”.

THEME: LONGING TO ESCAPE � Innisfree is depicted as a place of incredible tranquillity. It is a place of great silence devoid of any man-made sounds. Here one can enjoy the background noise of nature; the flapping sound of the linnets, the buzzing of the bees, the crickets’ song and the waves hitting the shore. � “I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore”

THEME: LONGING TO ESCAPE � Innisfree is the place where the poet will discover the peace he so craves: “And I have will have some peace there”. � In a memorable image, Yeats presents peace as a physical substance, “dropping” in the form of dew to cover the entire island, drenching the grasses where the crickets are busy about their song.

THEME: LONGING TO ESCAPE � Many people experience moments, like Yeats in this poem, when they feel like dropping out, when they feel like getting out of the ‘rat-race’. � They may feel like it’s time to turn their backs on the stresses and strains of modern living, of exams or deadlines or career pressure: “I will arise and go now”. � They may even fantasise, as Yeats does here, of dropping off the rid completely and living self-sufficiently: “And live alone in the beeloud glade”. Relying purely on mother nature to survive.

THEME: LONGING TO ESCAPE � The poem opens with a dramatic declaration of intent: “I will arise and go now”. It’s as if the poet has suddenly made a decision. � This new life, he declares, will start immediately. He even emphasises this point by repeating it in the third stanza. � Yet it seems unlikely that this new life will actually happen. Innisfree seems like an idealised, almost heavenly, version of the real place. It is doubtful that Yeats will leave his real life behind. � However, he holds the idea of Innisfree within his heart to console him when he is stuck “on the roadway, or on the pavements grey”.

STYLE: LANGUAGE, TONE, TECHNIQUE ETC. Repetition � Repetition is a strong element of this poem’s verbal music. The opening line of the poem repeats the word “go”, and suggests the poet’s earnest determination to act on his dream. � The words “peace” and “dropping” are also repeated, slowing the pace of the lines to create a soothing, lulling music. � The word “hear”, repeated in the third stanza, emphasises how strongly the poet recalls the sound of the island’s “lapping” waters, even when amid the

STYLE: LANGUAGE, TONE, TECHNIQUE ETC. Assonance and Alliteration � The repeated ‘h’ sounds in line 3 give the poem a pleasant alliterative effect: “will I have there, a hive for the honey-bee”. � Assonance features in line 10 where the repeated ‘a’ and ‘o’ sounds create a soft musical effect: “I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore”. Combined with the alliteration of the ‘l’ sounds in this line, these techniques make this line very pleasant to the ear. They bring to mid the peace and tranquillity Yeats experiences when he

STYLE: LANGUAGE, TONE, TECHNIQUE ETC. Nature Imagery � This is a poem of contrasting imagery. There is a stark difference between the imagery of the city and the imagery of Innisfree. � The city is a drab and dull place, composed of roadways and “pavements grey”. � The island, in contrast, is alive with colour and sound. We can contrast the “purple glow” of the heather with the “pavements grey”.

QUESTIONS 1. Describe theme of this poem and explain your personal response to it. 2. How did Yeats’ use of language (poetic techniques) help bring the poem to life for you?

THE WILD SWANS AT COOLE Before you read: Swans are a common subject in poetry, as well as mythology and fairy tales. With the person beside you think of as many examples of swans in stories or popular culture. Discuss what you think swans might represent or stand for.

THE WILD SWANS AT COOLE � This poem is set in Coole Park, Co. Galway. Yeats is wandering through the grounds of the park when he sees a flock of swans floating on a lake. � The sight of the swans reminds Yeats of his first visit to the park 19 years earlier. He thinks about how much his life has changed since.

THE WILD SWANS AT COOLE o. The poem begins by setting an autumn scene: “The trees are in their autumn beauty”. Yeats suggests this place is beautiful, calm and peaceful. o It is 19 years since Yeats first visited the park and saw the swans upon the lake.

THE WILD SWANS AT COOLE o On the first visit he attempted to count the number of the swans, however the swans flew into the air before he could finish counting them. o The strength and power of the swans is suggested by the poet’s description of them as “clamourous”.

THE WILD SWANS AT COOLE o. The poet admires the swans, calling them “brilliant creatures”. o However, the sight of their beauty makes him feel sad because his life has changed so much since he first saw the swans 19 years ago, when he was a much younger man. o Back then he “trod with a lighter tread” – his body was youthful.

THE WILD SWANS AT COOLE o. The swans ‘hearts’ have not grown old. Their lives are still full of adventure and enthusiasm: “passion & conquest”. o The swans are not alone, they travel in pairs: “lover by lover”. Plus they are free to fly anywhere they please: “wander where they

THE WILD SWANS AT COOLE o Yeats knows he will wake up one day and they will be gone. o He wonders where the swans will build their nests once they leave Coole: “Among what rushes will they build”. o Wherever they go they will bring “delight to men’s eyes”.

THEME: CHANGE / GROWING OLDER o In this poem, Yeats is preoccupied with growing older. He is struck by the fact that nineteen years of his life have rushed by so quickly since he first saw the swans: “now my heart is sore”. o The poem charts how his life has changed since he first visited Coole Park, and how it will continue to change beyond the moment that he now experiences.

THEME: CHANGE / GROWING OLDER o There was a time when the poet felt as vital and passionate as the swans he sees on the lake. Nineteen years ago he was a young man, youthful and carefree. o Now he longer feels like the swans. He is weighed down by the cares of middle age and no longer walks with the “lighter tread” of youth. o As a middle-aged man, Yeats feels passion and adventure are no longer a big part of his life. Whereas once he felt like “those brilliant creatures”, now he can only watch them and

THEME: CHANGE / GROWING OLDER o Soon, however, the poet will be an old man. At that stage of life, passion and adventure will leave him completely, just as the swans will fly away from the lake at Coole Park: “they have flown away”. o This inevitable departure of the swans represents the final stage of the poet’s life when he will be old and frail and unable to even appreciate the beauty and vitality of the swans: “Among what rushes will they build? ”.

THEME: CHANGE / GROWING OLDER o Throughout the poem, the swans act as a contrast to the poet. Though he feels the effects of time, the swans do no appear to have changed over nineteen years. o Their bodies are “unwearied”, whereas his has grown old and tired. The swans’ hearts have not “grown old”. They are still filled with “passion” and a longing for adventure. o In this way, the swans’ appearance heightens Yeats’ awareness of his own mortality. The swans symbolise that which is eternal. In contrast, the autumnal setting symbolises the mortal world, prone to decay. The poet is very much a part of this world.

STYLE: LANGUAGE, TONE, TECHNIQUE ETC. Symbolism o In a world that is otherwise “all’s changed” and in a constant change of flux, the swans appear unaltered. As such they come to symbolise something special for the poet. They offer him a sense of something eternal. o The swans are almost certainly not the same ones the poet observed nineteen years previously. Yet they give the appearance of looking no different and it is easy for the poet to imagine that these magnificent creatures have not changed

STYLE: LANGUAGE, TONE, TECHNIQUE ETC. Assonance and Alliteration o The poem is rich in assonance and alliteration. Assonance is evident in the repeated ‘I’ sounds in “Under the October twilight the water / Mirrors a still sky”. Assonance is also evident in the repeated ‘o’ sounds of “now my heart is sore”. o There is alliteration in the repeated ‘t’ sounds in “trod with a lighter step” and the repeated ‘c’ sounds in “cold companionable”. o The sounds seem to capture the peace and calm of the evening.

STYLE: LANGUAGE, TONE, TECHNIQUE ETC. Nature Imagery o The description of the landscape through which the poet walks seems to correspond with the way the poet feels about himself and his life. o He is in the “autumn” stage of life and like the time of day, he is approaching his “twilight” years. o Though the peace and beauty of nature in Coole Park is obvious, the stillness and dryness of the landscape also seems to suggest the loss of drive, energy and passion

QUESTIONS 1. Describe theme of this poem and explain your personal response to it. Use quotes to provide evidence. 2. How did Yeats’ use of language (poetic techniques) help bring the poem to life for you?