English Preliminary exam Yeats essay

Question 1

Introduction: thesis

Answer 1

Expressing his inordinately personal vision of public and personal affairs, William Butler Yeats’ pieces are filtered through the lens of Anglo-Irish relations, nationalism, occultism, and spiritualism in the pursuit of personal truths during significant changes in 20th-century Europe. The transitory nature of his principally evocative poetry as a Romantic poet who reluctantly developed a Modernist outlook allows Yeats to achieve an unmatched ambivalence in his search for truth, which ultimately transcends time.

Question 2

Introduction: WYAO

Answer 2

Demonstrated in his Romantic Douzain WYAO (1891), Yeats explores love, longing, and loss facilitated by his rejected love of Maud Gonne as commentary on the inescapable process of degrading with age.

Question 3

Introduction: WSAC

Answer 3

The unstoppable nature of time only less destructive with love as a grounding force in flux is developed further in his profoundly ambivalent poem WSAC (1917) as a transitional poem.

Question 4

Introduction: TSC

Answer 4

Characterising temporal change in itself as a response to WW1 in particular, Yeats delves into the destruction of societal structure which signifies a shift in his poetry towards a bleak, Modernist outlook in his poem TSC (1919).

Question 5

Introduction: last sentence

Answer 5

As a post-colonial poet influenced by his life’s personal and political aspects, Yeats’ profound impact on Irish Arts is immortalised through an evocative collection of thoughts that reveal timeless experiences of humanity.

Question 6

para 1: WYAO opening sentence

Answer 6

Manipulating the forms and features of the Romantic Couzain, Yeats’ WYAO (1891) poignantly explores love, longing, and loss broadly whilst privately dedicating the poetry to his muse Maud Gonne to insight fears of aging without companionship.

Question 7

para 1: WYAO techniques

Answer 7

Appropriates lyrical quality of Pierre de Ronsards ‘Quan vous serez bien vielle’ in traditional ABBA structure and iambic pentameter; immediate bleak, contemplative tone is established; Yeats attempts to insight regret in Gonne; contributes to romantic quality.

Personifies himself as “love” in the 3rd stanza; appropriation from Greek mythology as a Romantic; his love for Gonne will run away of its own accord; glorifies Gonne as an unattainable spiritual concept.

celestial imagery “hid his face amongst a crowd of stars”; Yeats will always admire Gonne from afar; immortalises his love for her in poetic form.

Question 8

para 1: WYAO critics quote

Answer 8

Michael O’Neill: Yeats expresses love, ageing and death as “based on a language of personal utterance”

Question 9

para 2: WSAC opening sentence

Answer 9

Juxtaposing the Romantic nature of WYAO, Yeats comes to terms with the unstoppable nature of time as he ages, whilst simultaneously exploring the tumultuous nature of change and the human desire for love as a grounding force during times of upheaval in the dramatic lyrical poem WSAC (1917).

Question 10

para 2: WSAC techniques

Answer 10

Lyrically alternating between iambic pentameter and trimester; Yeats desire for previous youth is eluded to which becomes a recurring concern in the poetry.

Lexical chain of visual imagery “The trees are in their autumn beauty”; autumn represents time passing/maturity; pays homage to Romanticism; Yeats forced into Modernist commentary.

Inverted phraseology “nine and fifty swans”; focus is drawn to lone swan which Yeats personifies; Gonne’s rejection brought about otherness and dissociation as he matures.

Question 11

para 2: WSAC critics quote

Answer 11

Michael Ferber “As swans are migratory, and are frequently seen alone, they can be imagined as exiles.”

Question 12

para 2: WSAC comparison

Answer 12

In comparison to love and beauty in WYAO, WSAC portrays loneliness and isolation as life flashes by Yeats due to his old age and the unprecedented events of the turn of the 20th century which is made clear through the peaceful action of “nodding by the fire” and the disordered anarchy of the swans who “scatter wheeling in great broken wings”. Yeats has become who he anticipated Maud would become due to his lack of romance in his life which wasn’t able to save his soul from plunging into artistic depression.

Question 13

para 3: opening sentence

Answer 13

Departing from WSAC vision of natural beauty, in his profoundly ambivalent poem TSC (1919), Yeats explores the search for underlying order in the destruction of societal structure in WW1 and the Easter Rebellion as an attempt to uncover truths about the cyclical nature of history and his role in it.

Question 14

para 3: poem techniques

Answer 14

Beginning in rough iambic pentameter and blank verse “Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;”; Yeats attempts to give the poem tight structure conveys a desire for order he can’t maintain; humanity is subject to inevitable change in the world.

Biblical allusion to Book of Revelations in title; Yeats ironically inverts expectations of the poem; describes coming of the anti-Christ to symbolise birth of violent world order.

Characterising what is to replace faith/societal structure “A rough beast, its hour come around at last, Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?”; metrical change from iambic pentameter to dactylic trimester; bestial imagery creates looming ambivalence for what is coming.

Question 15

para 3: critics quote

Answer 15

Stan Smith: “ambivalence is a deep energy and resource of this poem” to convey Yeats’ “mingled anguish, terror, and exultation”.

Question 16

para 3: comparison

Answer 16

• Starkly contrasts the Romantic qualities of WSAC seen in “companionable streams” to portray “the growing murderousness of the world”
• Yeats feels disorientated by Gyre movement without love as an anchor point which leaves him vulnerable.

Question 16

conclusion

Answer 16

Ultimately, Yeats’ poetic progression is seen in his Romantic peom WYAO which explores love, longing, and loss with a private dedication to Gonne. Transitioning in WSAC, Yeats fuses Romantic and Modernist features to come to terms with the passing of time and lack of love which ages him. Reflecting Yeats’ full transition into a Modernist poet, TSC explores the search for underlying order in destruction. Hence, as demonstrated in his poetic progression, William Butler Yeats expresses his inordinately personal vision of public and personal affairs filtered through the lens of Anglo-Irish relations, nationalism, occultism, and spiritualism in the pursuit of personal truths during significant changes in 20th-century Europe. The transitory nature of his principally evocative poetry as a Romantic poet who later embraced a Modernist outlook allows Yeats to achieve an unmatched ambivalence in his search for truth, which ultimately transcends time.