W.B_Yeats-_Poets_and_Their_Value

English Speech- W.B Yeats- ‘Poets and their Value’ William Butler Yeats is a famous Irish poet who wrote during the 20th century. Yeats’s poetry conveys a variety of valid symbols, themes and ideas about his encounter with nature and humanity with reference to his own personal experiences and context. Although Yeats’s poems all express his obscure and abstract perspectives on life, emphasized by the strong use of symbolic writing techniques, the basic religious, political and philosophical ideas that he has created are universal, remaining effective within a contemporary context and therefore are very valid and important texts to study for the HSC course. Within reference to two of Yeats’s poems, ‘The Wild Swans at Coole’ and ‘An Irish Airman foresees his Death’ I hope I can persuade you to realize the relevance of Yeats’s work. I believe Yeats’s poem ‘The Wild Swans at Coole’ has been an obvious demonstration of contemporary issues and values, and has been supported by a variety of techniques and symbols. I have composed an informed dominant reading of ‘The Wild Swans at Coole’, in the view of Yeats’s relationship with nature and his embrace of the simplistic beauty of the Irish landscape in particular reference to swans, symbolizing a sense of freedom and beauty. I have interpreted the dominant symbol of the Swan to depict Yeats’s idealized romantic view of nature and females. This is supported by the constant sense of admiration conveyed through positive word choice. Words such as brilliant, lover, passion, mysterious, beautiful and delight have been used to depict Yeats love for these enigmatic creatures. This symbol is a familiar generalization, which means the poem has maintained effectiveness. ‘The woodland paths are dry. Under the October twilight, the water mirrors a still sky’ is a line used to initially describe the peaceful serenity of Coole Park in Stanza 1. The rhyme produced in these lines has been very effective in sculpting the flow of the poem and contributing to its coherent rhythm. The suggestive tones of disintegration of his world however have created a second reading and personal perspective on the poem, exploring Yeats’s reaction to WW1 as a historical and psychological view. As Yeats wrote this during the war, an expected interpretation is the expression of the effects this war has caused. A line of Stanza 3, ‘All’s changed since I, hearing at twilight. The first time on this shore’ reflects Yeats’s perspective towards this changed world. This is also a reflection on his age and how the time has passed by since the first time he visited Coole Park. An element of disturbance and lack of control has been expressed from the middle of stanza 2 onwards, starting with the line ‘All suddenly mount. And scattered wheeling in great broken rings, upon their clamorous wings’. The word ‘mount’ creating a contrast of tone, in comparison to the word ‘still’ in stanza 1. The inconsistent nature of rhyme throughout this poem has emphasized the imperfection of the scene and is something a modern audience can appreciate and connect to, meaning the structural style has remained effective. Yeats’s ‘gyre’ theory is effectively expressed in ‘scatter wheeling in great broken rings’, emphasizing Yeats’s personal perspective towards the spiraling movement of consciousness and his theoretical take on life. I believe Yeats’s poem ‘An Irish Airman foresees his Death’ also supports my statement about the inclusion of Yeats’s poetry in our year 12 syllabus, as it also expresses effective ideas about life which have remained relevant. The dominant reading of ‘An Irish Airman foresees his Death’ revolves around the political concept of WW1, keeping in mind that Yeats lived and wrote throughout this war, which was a major emotional disturbance. The effects of war are conveyed through the subject of the poem, Major Gregory, a friend of Yeats’s to express a pointless perspective towards war and violence. I personally believe that the main lines of importance in this poem are ‘those that I fight I do not hate, those that I guard I do not love’, as it clearly and effectively portrays his thoughts about the pointless purpose of war, acting as a political statement about Irish nationalism and the lack of benefits a war introduces. The technique of juxtaposition is used through the words ‘love’ and ‘hate’ to create a contrast and emphasis on this political statement. Although I have seen this poem from a political perspective, depending on the individual, it could also be read through a resistant lens, picking out the pilots lack of interest in his duty to serve the country. Through the analysis of ‘The Wild Swans at Coole’ and ‘An Irish Airman foresees his Death’ I believe I have provided a fair argument for the inclusion of the study of Yeats in our HSC English course. The ideas Yeats explores about life have remained relevant as the issues are universal and resonate in a contemporary time period.