“When You Are Old” The poem “When You Are Old” written by William Butler Yeats is a poem spoken by an anonymous narrator. The narrator seems to be talking to a woman and refers to her youth and his love for her throughout the poem. In the first stanza‚ the narrator speaks about the woman being “old and gray and full of sleep”‚ this line is telling the reader that the woman is of older age. When the narrator says “take down this book‚ and slowly read‚ and dream of the soft look your eyes had once
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writer to exhibit his ideas on the paper. William Butler Yeats‚ Irish poet‚ dramatist and prose writer‚ his central theme is Ireland‚with bitter history‚ folklore‚ and contemporary public life. The poem tries to describe how the woman whose poet loves‚ will comprehend in her old age that she has missed the chance to own the true love. It presumes an old lady tired by the time and the true love that she ever had and now they had gone. By writing this poem‚ Yeats tries to moderate the lady’s beauty - he
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William Butler Yeats “When You Are Old” is a tribute to deeper love‚ an obvious interpretation of a poem that contains the word “love” five times in twelve lines. However‚ it is specifically the speaker’s personal analysis of what he imagines “love” to entail. It represents an elderly woman reminiscing of her younger days. A past lover whispers to her as she looks through a photo album. This is a very somber‚ regretful and resigned poem. It has a quiet‚ dreamlike feeling to it. And uses uncomplicated
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an array of experiences; of memories; of raw emotions. William Butler Yeats’ poem‚ “An Irish Airman Foresees His Death”‚ is a work that serves as the antecedent to the band Keane’s song‚ “A Bad Dream”. Both exuding emotions quite visceral in nature‚ Keane’s interpretation is one that procures the gut-wrenching feelings of anguish‚ disappointment‚ and regret from its audience; an air of reminiscence wafts throughout each chorus and verse. Yeats‚ rather‚ portrays the life of a man whose will to live
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William Butler Yeats‚ born in Ireland on June 13‚ 1865‚ was an unquestionably remarkable poet whose desperate belief in mysticism and theosophy inspired him to produce works which would establish his dominant influence in poetry during the twentieth-century. Driven by a desire to create a unique set of symbols and metaphors applicable to poetry as well as the human experience‚ Yeats’ poetry evolved to represent his views on spirituality and Man’s existentialist dilemmas. “Sailing to Byzantium”‚ a
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Easter 1916 Analysis by William Butler Yeats In this stanza Yeats describes the people‚ or "vivid faces"(2)‚ he sees in everyday life. They are insignificant to Yeats as individuals‚ however each of them shares a certain bond with him. They are all united in a fight for their homeland of Ireland. In lines 6 and 8‚ Yeats states that all he says to the people on the street are "polite meaningless words"(6). The fact that what he says to these people is always meaningless‚ shows how insignificant
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The poem “Why Should Not Old Men Be Mad?” by William Butler Yeats is a poem that brings insight into Yeats is life and his perception of life. In this poem‚ Yeats transmits to the reader how life can be unpredictable. This poem portrays the true reality of life‚ which is bitter and harsh. Yeats is focus in this poem is turned towards life and he uses many people close to him in this poem to demonstrate examples of how life can be a game of fate. Yeats in this poem tries to explain how nothing can
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Easter 1916 : William Butler Yeats - Summary and Critical Analysis Easter 1916 by William Butler Yeats is a poem about an Irish immature revolutionary plan which became unsuccessful to overthrow the British reign in Ireland. About fifteen hundred people participated in this revolution to seize the government office building of Dublin on Easter morning‚ but three hundred of them were killed on the spot‚ and more than two hundred people were taken as prisoner and tortured. In Easter 1916‚ poet
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"Leda and the Swan‚" a sonnet by William Butler Yeats‚ describes a rape. According to Perrine‚ "the first quatrain describes the fierce assault and the foreplay; the second quatrain‚ the act of intercourse; the third part of the sestet‚ the sexual climax" (147). The rape that Yeats describes is no ordinary rape: it is a rape by a god. Temporarily embodied in the majestic form of a swan‚ Zeus‚ king of the gods‚ consummated his passion for Leda‚ a mortal princess (Perrine 147). The union produced
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The Never Ending Cycle In the poem “The Second Coming” Yeats used Christian imagery from the Bible in regards to the Book of Revelations to describe what he feels as the Apocalypse and the second coming. “The Second Coming” is a poem written about how good and evil is in an eternal cycle; as one expands‚ the other contracts. This poem is a result of Yeats’ reaction to the future of his people after World War I. He uses strong symbolisms in this poem that not only make you feel what he is feeling
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