poems 1187go to the core of his personality, but they also show
that he cannot be understood in the simple terms
expressed by Boris Max, who totally overlooks his
individuality.
Kaleem Ashraf
yEaTS, wiLLiam buTLEr poems
(1865–1939)
Part of W. B. Yeats’s reputation rests on his strong
commitment to his homeland of Ireland. However,
he also stands as a poet of universal appeal whose
poems exerted a profound influence on the shape of
20th-century verse.
Yeats’s poetry can be seen as moving through
distinct periods, from the early romanticism of his
youthful poems to the tough pragmatism in his mid-
dle years to the occasional bitterness of later works.
His style changes correspondingly. Yeats’s early verse
bears the influence of Pre-Raphaelite aesthetics
popular during the latter part of the 19th century.
Lush imagery and diction such as that found in “To
the Rose upon the Rood of Time” (1893) contrasts
with the terse lyricism of later poems such as “Circus
Animals’ Desertion” (1939).
Yeats’s work always held an underlying politi-
cal dimension. He worked with Lady Gregory to
preserve and revivify Irish folk tales of the peasantry.
Traditional and historical Irish figures such as Deir-
dre and Cathleen Ni Houlihan were central figures
in his plays written for the Abbey Theatre, which
he helped found in 1904. This theater provided a
crucial outlet for Yeats and fellow writers to explore
Irish nationalist themes. The challenges of working
in drama are explored in the poem “The Fascination
of What’s Difficult” (1910).
Political themes dominate poems like “Septem-
ber 1913” and “Easter 1916,” which deal with Irish
frustration over British rule. When Ireland finally
gained independence in 1922, Yeats served as a sena-
tor for the Free State. He alludes to his term in public
office in one of his later poems, “Among School
Children” (1927).
Even for his worldly, political motivations, Yeats
was also fascinated with spiritualism, which was in
vogue in turn-of-the-century England. His book A
Vision (1925) presents a unique view of the cyclical
nature of time and history, and mystical themes are
developed in poems such as “The Second Coming”
(1921).
The poet is also well known for poems of a more
personal nature. The Irish actress and nationalist
Maud Gonne was the object of several proposals by
Yeats, all of which were rebuffed. Because of this, she
is viewed by some readers as the inspiration behind
such poems as “Never Give All the Heart” (1903)
and “No Second Troy” (1910), which discuss the
hardships of love.
Yeats’s seemingly equal adeptness at writing as a
political indignant, a dreamy mystic, and a rejected
lover makes him a pervasive influence on poets who
followed him, Irish and otherwise. When he died in
1939, his fellow poet W. H. Auden paid him high
regard in one of the most celebrated of 20th-century
elegies, “In Memory of W. B. Yeats,” which takes
stock of the poet’s many achievements.
Joe MoffettFutILIty in the poems of William Butler Yeats
A sense of futility pervades the work of the Irish poet
William Butler Yeats. His poem “No Second Troy”
(1910) speaks of the futility of love. After describing
the qualities of a woman of affection, Yeats writes,
“Why, what could she have done, being what she
is? / Was there another Troy for her to burn?” (ll.
11–12). The poem suggests that the doomed nature
of their romance was inevitable from the beginning,
given the woman’s disposition. “Never Give All the
Heart” (1903) similarly advises readers not to give
away all of themselves, based on the experiences of
the speaker, about whom it is revealed that “he gave
all his heart and lost” in the game of love (l. 14). In
“When You Are Old” (1893), the reader learns that
despite the speaker’s devotion to a woman whom
many others also loved, “Love fled / And paced
upon the mountains overhead” (ll. 10–11).
“When You Are Old” also introduces the futility
of holding on to youthfulness. The poem implies
that old age is a diminished state, one in which a
person can only reflect on his or her youth. The
inevitability of old age fills the poet with a sense of
futility at times. “Among School Children” (1928)