W.B. Yeats | Poems |

 Thinking Activity : W.B. Yeats's Poems 

Hello. 

This blog is part of Thinking activity task of W.B.Yeats poems from Twenteith Centurry literature. In this blog two poems will analyse. First we shall take look at " On Being Asked for a War Poem"

 On Being Asked for a War Poem : 

I think it better that in times like these

A poet's mouth be silent, for in truth

We have no gift to set a statesman right;

He has had enough of meddling who can please

A young girl in the indolence of her youth,

Or an old man upon a winter’s night.

  Poem Analysis : 

Face value of poem is Poet doesn't want to speak anything. This poem is a bit different from others in a collection about war. Instead of talking about war, it says that poets shouldn't write about politics. The poet suggests that their job is to make their friends happy rather than getting involved in the world's problems.

For deeper understanding of this poem two poems will be helpful.  ‘Easter 1916’, ‘An Irish Airman foresees his death’ suggests his unhappiness towards the war. Ireland was a colony of the British, Irish soldiers had to fight a war not of their patriotic duty but by force of Britisher. We can interpret that it might also be the reason why poet is not interested in wars, Irish people were fighting in war but they had no profit, they were bounded by Britishers.

In this poem there is Refusal as assent. The line "A poet's mouth be silent" is having air of irony or Lakshna means trying to say exact opposite. In this line, Yeats engages in a contemporary debate, expressing a straightforward opinion on the silence of a poet's mouth during troubled times, such as war. The use of enjambment mirrors everyday speech. Additionally, the phrase "a poet’s mouth" being silent employs the literary technique of metonymy. 

As A.C.Ward talks about  Dictatorial intellectualism, emotionally unsuseptable youth easily manipulated by Statemen. Moreover, due to that they attacked writers or individuals who talked against them, it resulted in Dictatorial intellectualism. Writers started eascping (Escapism)  and write work which is more complex in nature or remaining silent. For example, James Joyce in Ulessys and T.S. Eliot in The Waste Land used Complex language and narrative techniques. Similarly here Yeats tried to be silent because youngster and older(Whatsapp Uncle-Aunty) easily choose Right over Truth. 

A statesman is a political leader. Here, it is asserted that poets have no “gift”, or ability, to tell statesman how they should make decisions. He can be poet or politician. The term "meddling" in the poem conveys a negative view towards those who write politically active poems. However, when applied to the lives of old men and young girls, it takes on a playful tone. The poet quickly shifts from politics to an intimate scene, emphasizing beauty, youth, and innocence. The phrase "an old man on a winter’s night" suggests that the poet's influence extends to everyday life, indicating poetry's role in appealing to beauty, wisdom, youth, and age. Yeats might argue that poetry's concerns surpass mere political issues.

Longinus in his work Sublime talked about text's power of transform reders, similarly this poem is transform reders to the contemporary time though it is written in 1915. It's relevence is still here, while media is corrupted and any statement against authority turned into blasphamy or anti-nationality poet wants to be silent.

 

In prosodic reading of the poem has six lines with ABC rhyme scheme.  Aditionally, Henry James and Edith Warton suggested Yeats to write the poem . Yeats compose a political poem about World War I Yeats changed the poem's title from "To a friend who has asked me to sign his manifesto to the neutral nations"  and then "A Reason for Keeping Silent"

For detailed analysis of the poem >>> On Being Asked for a War Poem - W B Yeats

 The Second Coming : 

The Second Coming poem is written in the 1919 aftermath of world war 1 and the beginning of Irish War of Independence. This Information easily helps us to read the Poem as a war poem. But if we read the history of 1918-19 we find that it was also a period of Flu pandemic. This creates a confusion whether Yeats wrote this Apocalyptic poem in reference to war or flu, as the poem does not suggest any specific reference in it. We shall be looking at poem with three different percpective, riligious, political and pendemic view. 

"Turning and turning in the widening gyre

The falcon cannot hear the falconer;

Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;

Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world," 

The phrase "the falcon cannot hear the falconer" is from W.B. Yeats's poem "The Second Coming." In this context, it suggests a sense of chaos, disorder, and a breakdown in communication or control. The falcon represents a force or entity that is no longer obedient or responsive to its master (the falconer). This line is often interpreted as a metaphor for the disintegration of societal order or the loss of control in the broader world. The inability of the falcon to hear its falconer signifies a disconnect and a descent into anarchy or turmoil.

With pandemic viewpoint, Elizabeth Outka in her text ‘Viral Modernism: The Influenza Pandemic and Interwar Literature’ (2019) explains a bit about the authors who addressed pandemic in their work. Reading Yeats’ biography we do find that his wife, Georgie Hyde- Lees was pregnant and was caught by Influenza. In that period the highest ratio of death was among the pregnant ladies, around 70% pregnant ladies were dying because of influenza. Yeats wrote this poem when his wife was recovering. Looking at this biographical element we can interpret this poem to be a pandemic poem, it is definitely a war poem but we also find Influenza effect recorded in this poem.

The lines reflect a dire period where authority loses control, much like the chaos during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. The situation parallels the influenza pandemic, where a lack of solutions led to everything "falling apart." The phrase "Centre cannot hold" signifies a loss of control over the unfolding events.

"The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned; "

At first, looking through the backdrop of war, due to World War I, numerous people died, and many of them were innocent. Moreover, people from countries like Ireland and India fought for Britain. However, war itself is often murderous. Most of the time, the figures who are the main reasons for the war are sitting in a room, and a significant number of soldiers die due to the monomania of power.

 Looking through pendemic lens ,the phrase "blood-dimmed tide" strongly suggests influenza, where bleeding from nose, ears, and mouth was common. "Ceremony of innocence" implies the deaths of innocents, akin to the widespread fatalities during the recent COVID-19 pandemic. The poem addresses the pandemic indirectly, with the primary focus on war in the apocalyptic context, as seen in "The Second Coming."

"The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity."

In "The Second Coming," Yeats observes a stark contrast in society. The best lack determination and conviction, suggesting passivity. Meanwhile, the worst are characterized by intense and potentially destructive passion. This reflects Yeats's concerns about the moral and political upheaval of his time. The lines capture a sense of foreboding, reflecting the poet's unease with the direction of the world, especially in the aftermath of World War I. 

Comparing it to the present scenario raises concerns about the songs people are singing. Like the Gujarati idiom, "Adhuro Ghado Chalkay Ghano," those lacking the ability to think often showcase intense passion in doing wrong things. Nevertheless, those who are aware of the situation lose faith in everything. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the hope of 'Vasudhaiv Kutumbakam' was lost, and everywhere, there are only songs about My Country.

"Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi"

The Second Coming, the event most Christians believe will happen when Christ returns. There's clear wordplay of the Latin "Spiritus Sanctus" (Holy Spirit) with "Spiritus Mundi", also the Latin "Salvator Mundi" (Savior of the World, usually refers to Jesus Christ, also a famous Da Vinci painting). 

The Salvator Mundi painting depicts a frontal portrait view of Jesus Christ, depicting the top half of his torso, shoulders, and head. The background is dark in color and appears to be black. He is looking directly at us, the viewers, with a gentle yet penetrating gaze. His right hand (our left) is raised to just above chest height with his index finger and middle fingers both raised in a gesture of blessing.

In His left hand (our right), there is a large orb, which is held level with His chest. Christ is wearing a blue robe lined with golden zig-zagged and interweaved patterned trims; His robe appears to be from the Renaissance clothing fashion. His hair is a dark brown color and falls just below his shoulders in detailed curls.

(du Plessis)

In Christian iconography, the image of Jesus Christ with a raised right hand and left hand holding an orb is a common depiction. It relates to what is known as “Christian iconography” and the title also provides us with more information because the words Salvator Mundi are Latin meaning “Savior of the World”.

It's also interesting how Yeats writes the word "revelation", when the book of capital-R revelation describes similar beasts made up of different animals/men, as do other prophecies in the Bible.

For detail reading of painting visit this : “Salvator Mundi” by Leonardo da Vinci – A Jesus Painting Analysis

"Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again; but now I know

These lines are from W.B. Yeats's poem "The Second Coming." In this excerpt, Yeats describes a vision or revelation that troubles the speaker's sight. The imagery depicts a creature with a lion's body and a human head, its gaze being blank and pitiless like the sun. This creature is moving slowly in the desert sands, surrounded by shadows of indignant desert birds.

The vision in these lines hints at impending doom and disorder. The creature, with its mix of animal and human elements, creates an eerie and surreal atmosphere. Its emotionless and pitiless gaze suggests a lack of empathy or mercy, intensifying the overall ominous tone of the poem.

While looking as pendemic poem POV, this beast is more like virus here it is visible however, virus is not. So many paintings were made upon the  Corona virus similarly this beast will creat diorder and chaos.

That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,"

In these lines from "The Second Coming" by W.B. Yeats, he suggests that the world has been dormant for a long time, like a "stony sleep" lasting for twenty centuries. This period of inactivity is disturbed by the emergence of a new force, symbolized by a "rocking cradle." The cradle represents a new ideology or power that is causing disturbance and upheaval. The term "nightmare" implies that this emerging force is unsettling and distressing. Yeats uses these vivid images to convey a sense of significant change and chaos in the world. The lines capture the poet's perception of a world undergoing a profound transformation, with the emergence of a force that disrupts the long period of relative quietude.

"And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?"

Bethlehem is  the birthplace of Jesus Christ. The "rough beast" slouching towards Bethlehem is commonly seen as a metaphor for a destructive force or ideology emerging, symbolizing chaos and upheaval. In these lines, Yeats conveys his unease about the turbulent times and the potential rise of destructive forces that could reshape the world negatively and unsettlingly.

So this is  my reading of  poem. I hope you get some new things. 

Thank You.

Images :  8

Video :  1

Words :  2069

References : 

du Plessis, Alicia. “"Salvator Mundi" by Leonardo da Vinci - A Jesus Painting Analysis.” Art in Context, 3 August 2022, https://artincontext.org/salvator-mundi-by-leonardo-da-vinci/. Accessed 26 January 2024.

Yeats, WB, and Dilip Barad. “WBYeats Poems.” Dilip Barad | Teacher Blog, 20 May 2021, https://blog.dilipbarad.com/2021/05/whauden-poems.html. Accessed 26 January 2024.