Irish Poet William Butler Yeats

William Butler Yeats, a famous Irish poet from Dublin, characterized the early 20th century with iconic poetry influenced by history, politics, and love. Born in 1865, Yeats preliminary exposure to the Romanticism genre of poetry stayed with him for much of his career. At the ripe age of 24, Yeats began writing about the fame and sex of the century that his poor self could not obtain. Religion also became an important influence in his early career. He wished to bring back the faith many Irishmen pushed from their homes (Sullivan). He joined an occult group and dabbled in mysticism for quite some time. This is when he met the love of his life, Maud Gonne. They were quite different, though, and she frequently denied his hand in marriage. Even after she married another man, Yeats still pursued her and wrote about her often in his poetry. Soon, he became involved in theater, and this new interest marked the most significant change in his career (Sullivan). Yeats moved from the romanticism genre to a more realistic, satiric genre that would characterize the rest of his profession. Politics would soon consume him and his poetry. His first response to a political movement in Ireland was the Easter Uprising of 1916. Then, the Irish civil war and World War I occurred, and Yeats faced a difficult situation. Irish society changed, and he had to change too (Sullivan). His book, The Tower, soon became his most famous and most well-known for its new take on the world. As James Sullivan points out, “the first poem in that volume, ‘Sailing to Byzantium,’ opens with a rejection of a society that has no concern for ‘monuments of unageing intellect’ since it is caught in its own ‘sensual music’ that is ensnared in the process of ‘whatever is begotten, born, and dies'." This poem becomes one of Yeats most popular because it criticizes the existing Irish society and calls for change. Yeats following book, The Winding Stair, and Other Poems, gave a somewhat different approach on how to handle the changing Irish society. The emphasis now became on the self and individualism to break away from the Irish society. “Blood and the Moon” was one such poem. The death of a political figure who shared the same views as Yeats led to its creation (Sullivan). This kind of governmental intrigue took place due to his involvement in the Irish Free State as a senator. As James Sullivan quotes from Richard Ellmann, “‘few poets have found mastery of themselves and their craft so difficult or have sought such mastery, through conflict and struggle, so unflinchingly’”. A plague of war and violence covers Ireland’s recent history. Even to this day, the country has a hard time keeping the crime to a minimum. First, the divide of Ireland from British rule in the Easter Uprising. This revolution happened while United Kingdom was heavily involved in World War I. Many believe these two historic events to be separate; however, these events actually correlate.

The Irish may not have been able to achieve their independence had it not been for Britain’s large involvement in the war (Reynolds 38). This split from the United Kingdom heavily affected all the countries involved and many did not like the outcome, especially those in Northern Ireland. There, a large unionist group emerged and demanded Ireland be reinstated as a member of the United Kingdom. Despite this, much of the country still wanted to be independent and a civil war broke out between the two separate parties. In the end, Northern Ireland broke off from Ireland and rejoined the United Kingdom. The political turmoil persists to this day (Reynolds 38). Yeats lived through all of this trouble. They influenced him and caused him to create the works he did. His writings are a true reflection of what war and political strife can have on a person. One can see his values and beliefs change over time as his country changes around him. He must move with the times. Yeats works during the time became a staple to describe the violence, political misconduct and people who partook in the revolution. Many quote is stylistic views, like Reynolds, when it comes to the Easter Uprising and World War I. He is a very important figure in Irish history and continues to remain an important figure in poetic history (Reynolds 39).

"Sailing to Byzantium"

That is no country for old men. The young

In one another’s arms, birds in the trees

—Those dying generations—at their song,

The salmon-falls, the mackerel-crowded seas,

Fish, flesh, or fowl, commend all summer long

Whatever is begotten, born, and dies.

Caught in that sensual music all neglect

Monuments of unageing intellect.

An aged man is but a paltry thing,

A tattered coat upon a stick, unless

Soul clap its hands and sing, and louder sing

For every tatter in its mortal dress,

Nor is there singing school but studying

Monuments of its own magnificence;

And therefore I have sailed the seas and come

To the holy city of Byzantium.

O sages standing in God’s holy fire

As in the gold mosaic of a wall,

Come from the holy fire, perne in a gyre,

And be the singing-masters of my soul.

Consume my heart away; sick with desire

And fastened to a dying animal

It knows not what it is; and gather me

Into the artifice of eternity.

Once out of nature I shall never take

My bodily form from any natural thing,

But such a form as Grecian goldsmiths make

Of hammered gold and gold enamelling

To keep a drowsy Emperor awake;

Or set upon a golden bough to sing

To lords and ladies of Byzantium

Of what is past, or passing, or to come.

"Blood And The Moon"

Blessed be this place, More blessed still this tower; A bloody, arrogant power Rose out of the race Uttering, mastering it, Rose like these walls from these Storm-beaten cottages -- In mockery I have set A powerful emblem up, And sing it rhyme upon rhyme In mockery of a time HaIf dead at the top.

II Alexandria's was a beacon tower, and Babylon's An image of the moving heavens, a log-book of the sun's

journey and the moon's; And Shelley had his towers, thought's crowned powers he called

them once.

I declare this tower is my symbol; I declare This winding, gyring, spiring treadmill of a stair is my ancestral

stair; That Goldsmith and the Dean, Berkeley and Burke have

travelled there.

Swift beating on his breast in sibylline frenzy blind Because the heart in his blood-sodden breast had dragged him

down into mankind, Goldsmith deliberately sipping at the honey-pot of his mind,

And haughtier-headed Burke that proved the State a tree, That this unconquerable labyrinth of the birds, century after

century, Cast but dead leaves to mathematical equality;

And God-appointed Berkeley that proved all things a dream, That this pragmatical, preposterous pig of a world, its farrow

that so solid seem, Must vanish on the instant if the mind but change its theme;

Saeva Indignatio and the labourer's hire, The strength that gives our blood and state magnanimity of its

own desire; Everything that is not God consumed with intellectual fire.

III The purity of the unclouded moon Has flung its atrowy shaft upon the floor. Seven centuries have passed and it is pure, The blood of innocence has left no stain. There, on blood-saturated ground, have stood Soldier, assassin, executioner. Whether for daily pittance or in blind fear Or out of abstract hatred, and shed blood, But could not cast a single jet thereon. Odour of blood on the ancestral stair! And we that have shed none must gather there And clamour in drunken frenzy for the moon. IV Upon the dusty, glittering windows cling, And seem to cling upon the moonlit skies, Tortoiseshell butterflies, peacock butterflies, A couple of night-moths are on the wing. Is every modern nation like the tower, Half dead at the top? No matter what I said, For wisdom is the property of the dead, A something incompatible with life; and power, Like everything that has the stain of blood, A property of the living; but no stain Can come upon the visage of the moon When it has looked in glory from a cloud.