Yeats’ poetry Essay Example for Free

Yeats’ poetry Essay Yeats’ poetry has survived over a century due to his depiction of various human states both in himself and those in the world around him. A personal and depressive depiction of humans is seen used in â€Å"The wild swans at Coole,† where Yeats reflects on the final rejection from Maud Gonne whom he was in love with. A juxtaposed human state is seen in â€Å"The Second Coming,† where Yeats depicts the chaotic and destructive nature of humans as a result of an external spiritual/religious force being removed. Both poems depict different representations of what is to be human, however both depictions are still very relevant in today’s society. In â€Å"The Wild Swans at Coole,† Yeats uses oxymoronic metaphors of the season â€Å"autumn beauty,† to represent the depressive state he was feeling. While â€Å"autumn,† has connotations of decay, Yeats views the season as â€Å"beautiful,† to emphasise the self-pity he is experiencing. Sexual tension and frustration is also conveyed through metaphors; â€Å"woodland paths are dry,† refers to the bleak and dry season of autumn but also to Yeats’ lack of sexual action as a result of chasing after Maud for such a long time. This sexual desire is emphasised through symbolism of the â€Å"swans,† as when these creatures’ wings open, they bare a remarkable resemblance to the male genitalia. Visual imagery of the â€Å"October twilight,† furthers the emphasis on Yeats’ depression and sadness as October in Ireland sees the arrival of grey skies which depicts Yeats’ conscience to his aging self. The grey skies that come in October metaphorically represent grey hair that Yeats’ is/will shortly grow as a result of his aging. As â€Å"twilight,† is the point between day and night, Yeats’ sees his youth disappearing with the day. Yeats is reminded later in the poem of his inevitable aging by the swan’s wings as they create a â€Å"bell-beat of their wings,† above his head. The use of alliteration with â€Å"bell beat,† places emphasis to the idea of a bell going off in his head and reminding him of his old age. Yeats uses â€Å"The Wild Swans at Coole,† to represent multiple phases in which every human will encounter. He makes it clear that rejection of love can cause a person to reflect on their depressive state as well as the sexual frustrations, which re a natural occurrence in human beings. By using metaphors Yeats is also able to convey the inevitable aging process that all humans take part in. In â€Å"The second Coming,† Yeats utilises striking metaphors to convey a different idea of what it is to be human. The word â€Å"turn,† is emphasised in the line â€Å"turning and turning the widening gyre,† due to the trochaic pentameter used. This beat is broke n however by the word â€Å"gyre,† which draws the readers attention to the chaos and lack of structure in the current gyre. This represents what Yeats believed about time being divided into two-thousand year periods (called gyres) in which the opposite of one gyre would occur in the other. The chaos and lack of structure in the line represents the violent and chaotic escapades that many people were a part of during that time. (The Nazi rule in Germany and violent struggle between England and Ireland. ) Personification of a falcon; â€Å"the falcon cannot hear the falconer,† depicts humans turning away from god or some external moral structure and this causing the violence and destruction that was occurring. Yeats depicts humans, as needing some form of spiritual structure in their lives or â€Å"mere anarchy,† will be loosed upon the world. Personification can be seen used on the word â€Å"anarchy,† to depict it as being some form of beast, which is released from its cage as people turn away from religion/spiritualism. Violent personification is used as the â€Å"ceremony of innocence is drowned. † This again furthers the idea that when religious/spiritual values are questioned, the good things that come from these values are lost. Through the use of the extended metaphor of â€Å"gyres,† Yeats is able to show that humans need an external moral guide (in religion or other spiritualistic ways) otherwise chaos and violence will occur as there is no moral structure to be followed. In â€Å"The Wild Swans at Coole,† Yeats portrays the natural human instinct to be with another human through the use of syntactical variation as seen in the line â€Å"nine-and-fifty swans. † By having the odd number â€Å"nine,† at the beginning of the sentence, the reader knows that one swan is without a partner. Yeats feels attached to this swan as he too is without a partner and this brings back his depressive and lonely state and how a person cannot feel completed unless they have someone to share their life with. Jealousy of the swans’ youthfulness and vitality becomes apparent through verbs â€Å"mount†¦wheeling†¦scatter,† which are juxtaposed when Yeats realises that â€Å"my heart is sore. † This juxtaposition shows Yeats wishing he too could wheel or mount or scatter, however his old age and anxiety makes it difficult for him to find the energy to do so. Yeats also makes it apparent that â€Å"all’s changed,† now that the â€Å"nineteenth autumn,† has come upon him since the first time he visited Coole park. Juxtaposed to Yeats’ changed state are the swans that are â€Å"unwearied still,† as the â€Å"paddle in the cold. † The swans appear unaffected by the cold water as they paddle side-by-side or â€Å"lover by lover. † This bring the idea that Yeats feels he would be able to conquer the hard times in his life better if he had a partner to help him along the way. This statement also brings back his idea that humans need a lifelong partner to live happily. In the second stanza of â€Å"The Second Coming,† Yeats proclaims, â€Å"surely some revelation is at hand. † Anaphora is used on the word â€Å"surely,† as it is repeated in the lone below and this combined with the rhetorical question Yeats poses, emphasises the idea that some god/divine spirit must/will reveal itself Yeats’ exasperation to the situation shows that he believes that the only way for the chaos to be over is if a spiritual guide reveals itself which Yeats believed was â€Å"somewhere in the sands of the desert. † The use of sibilance emphasises the greatness of the creature that has a â€Å"lion body and head of a man. The â€Å"sands of the desert,† is a metaphor for the sands in an hourglass, which shows the lack of time before the second coming takes place. Alliteration â€Å"darkness drops again,† stresses the metaphor of the gyre ending as the second gyre begins. The word â€Å"again,† suggests that this has happened before when the previous gyre ended and also proclaims that this pattern of chaos and destruction will occur in the future as the current gyre ends. In the chaos, Yeats makes it apparent that those who choose not to be a part of the violence will suffer as â€Å"the best lack al conviction. He makes it clear that in times of chaos you must either eat or be eaten. In Yeats’ poetry we can see different representations of what it is to be human. Although portraying very different phases of being human, â€Å"The Wild Swans at Coole,† and â€Å"The Second Coming,† both show representations of what being human entails. The stages of humanity that Yeats makes reference to in each poem are ones that are still relevant today (depression, loneliness, chaos, violence. ) It is because of these representations that Yeats’ poems are and will always be relevant to our lives.