Hey, so this is my response for Yeats mid course exam the question was the same as last years HSC-
An inherent tension between past and present is revealed through recurring images in Yeats’ poetry
To what extent does your interpretation of at least two of Yeats poems set for study align with this view?
Posting this to either a) for people to smash and tell me how bad it is. and where to improve and b) to give a few people some ideas for similar questions.
I used this formulae to construct the paragraphs (original thread is http://community.boredofstudies.org/showthread.php?t=257183 ) It's just a good way to satisfy a lot of the rubric.
1. Thesis
2. Contextualisation
3. Quote/Evidence
4. Technique
5. Linkage
6. Reference back to question
This is the essay;
Throughout his poetry, Yeats’ uses his philosophical theory consisting of historical cycles, annunciations, and spiritualism to attempt to comprehend history, modern day Ireland and the wider world. The poems The Second Coming and Leda and the Swan are both texts that portray the tense relationship between past and present with recurring images of an event annunciating a new era. The poems were written in post WWI Ireland by William Yeats whose form dances from Romantic to Modernist. The Second Coming explores the world succumbing to anarchy and terror as one era ends and the beginning of a new epoch. Whilst similarly Leda and the Swan symoblises the fall of Troy and beginning of the modern era. Both texts explore this theme explicitly whilst also having underlying language to emphasise the tension. Yeat’s historical context is reflected throughout the poems and influences his reason to write poetry. The recurring image of annunciation shows Yeats’ poetry has inherent tension between past and present.
Yeats’ philosophical theory influences his poem The Second Coming, as Yeats attempts to comprehend his wider world. Yeats’ historical theory of gyres is paramount in The Second Coming as it describes how the current point of history ends somewhat chaotically. Interpreting The Second Coming from a new-historicist theory lens we can appreciate the chaos of the early 20th century that Yeats’ alludes to in the 1st stanza – WWI, the Irish rebellion, Russian Revolution. The events the Yeats alludes to are all categorically described with ”everywhere the ceremony of innocence is drowned”. The hyperbolic form of this sentence and the first stanza is important as it outlines the intensity of ending of an era (gyre). Yeats’ is suggesting that the this civilization that exists post WWI is experiencing its ending. Here, the recurring image of the an era ending and being replaced is quite explicit, the tension is created through this recurring image which can be found throughout his poetry, yet more explicitly in the The Second Coming. Yeats’ use of the imagery with “things fall apart; the centre cannot hold” furthers the intensity of the stanza, and sets up the second stanza to elaborate on the annunciation of the new era and amplifies the tension that is inherent throughout his poetry.
The 2nd stanza contends with the possibility of this new era perplexes the relationship between past and present. Yeats’ entwines the present with the past with the archaic, religious reasoning with the repetition “Surely some revelation is at hand; surely the second coming…. the second coming!”. The repetition helps the audience identify with the increasing tension, whilst also second guessing if this is the second coming, or a totally different beginning. By almost ironically screaming “the second coming” at the annunciations Yeats combines the Armageddon of Rev 16.16 with WWI and the modern world which creates a complex relationship between the past and present. This as an example of Yeats’ using his philosophical theory to interpret actions of the wider world. The 2nd stanza of the Second Coming is a pertinent example of Yeats using his philosophical theory to create recurring images of tension between past and present.
Tension is inherent in Yeats poetry through the intensity of his poetic lexicon. Leda and the Swan is an example of how Yeats’ use of animated language creates anxiety + tension, which is inseparable from the relationship between past and present in his poetry. Leda and the Swan was published in 1924, a period of confusion and uncertainty for Yeats and the modernizing world. Yeats love interest with Maude Gonne is faltering, Ireland has become independent from Britain, Russia is undergoing revolution, whilst the rest of Europe rebuilds after WWI. The abruptness and passion of this time period is felt from the beginning of the poem, with the zealous imagery of the first line “a sudden blow, the great wings beating”. The use of this imagery makes the audience feel tense and anxious, which means they can identify with the intensity of Yeats’ lexicon to create an inherent tension. The language of the opening line is vital in creating tension in the poem. It is this use of an image of the arrival of a new era; that is this ‘sudden blow’ has consequences for the past and foremost, for the present. As a result, Yeat’s use of strong language imagery is especially relevant to him creating an intrinsic tension between past and present.
Yeats’ philosophical theory in the 2nd stanza of Leda and The Swan alludes to correlations between Greek history and Yeats present day world. In lines 9-11 Yeats language can become greatly interpretable, which is done for a reason; Yeats is asking the reader to question the status quo by relating the events of Leda & The Swan to their own context. When read from a new-historicist literary theory angle we can take this as Yeats assuming the reader is an Irish/British person in the 1920’s and that the situation is more than likely to be interpreted as either Anglo-Irish relations or the post WWI world. The enumeration in lines 9-11 “A shudder in the loins engenders there The broken wall, the burning roof and tower And Agamemnon dead” leave the reader able to interpret the symbols being expressed by Yeats. The effect of this symbolism is that it puts the reader in the position of interpreting the symbols in to their context i.e. ‘the burning wall’ could be a symbol of a break down in Anglo-Irish relations or the wall could be British rule over Ireland which now faltering. The highly interpretable word choice is an effective strategy by Yeats to portray his philosophical theory of the tense relationship between past and present. As Yeats work is inherently disputable the relationship between past and present becomes intense. Yeats use of this greek parable highlights the inherent tension between past and present; Yeats is using the past to interpret the future and asks the same of his readers. Thus, Yeats’ allusion to past and present through his philosophical theory means creates an inherent tension between past and present.
Yeats’ uses his philosophical theory consisting of historical cycles, annunciations, and spiritualism to attempt to comprehend history, modern day Ireland and the wider world. The recurring image of an ‘annunciation’ of either the past or present day annunciations, that is inherent throughout his poetry is a source of tension, this tension that Yeats is lionized for is furthered with messianic language, and thus Yeats poetry creates an inherent tension between past and present. Whilst reading Yeats we must ask “So mastered by the brute blood of the air, Did we put on his knowledge with his power?” Yeats complex philosophical theory and intense language is powerful and bewildering, but this is why Yeats is such an integral part of the Irish, British and Western canon.
An inherent tension between past and present is revealed through recurring images in Yeats’ poetry
To what extent does your interpretation of at least two of Yeats poems set for study align with this view?
Posting this to either a) for people to smash and tell me how bad it is. and where to improve and b) to give a few people some ideas for similar questions.
I used this formulae to construct the paragraphs (original thread is http://community.boredofstudies.org/showthread.php?t=257183 ) It's just a good way to satisfy a lot of the rubric.
1. Thesis
2. Contextualisation
3. Quote/Evidence
4. Technique
5. Linkage
6. Reference back to question
This is the essay;
Throughout his poetry, Yeats’ uses his philosophical theory consisting of historical cycles, annunciations, and spiritualism to attempt to comprehend history, modern day Ireland and the wider world. The poems The Second Coming and Leda and the Swan are both texts that portray the tense relationship between past and present with recurring images of an event annunciating a new era. The poems were written in post WWI Ireland by William Yeats whose form dances from Romantic to Modernist. The Second Coming explores the world succumbing to anarchy and terror as one era ends and the beginning of a new epoch. Whilst similarly Leda and the Swan symoblises the fall of Troy and beginning of the modern era. Both texts explore this theme explicitly whilst also having underlying language to emphasise the tension. Yeat’s historical context is reflected throughout the poems and influences his reason to write poetry. The recurring image of annunciation shows Yeats’ poetry has inherent tension between past and present.
Yeats’ philosophical theory influences his poem The Second Coming, as Yeats attempts to comprehend his wider world. Yeats’ historical theory of gyres is paramount in The Second Coming as it describes how the current point of history ends somewhat chaotically. Interpreting The Second Coming from a new-historicist theory lens we can appreciate the chaos of the early 20th century that Yeats’ alludes to in the 1st stanza – WWI, the Irish rebellion, Russian Revolution. The events the Yeats alludes to are all categorically described with ”everywhere the ceremony of innocence is drowned”. The hyperbolic form of this sentence and the first stanza is important as it outlines the intensity of ending of an era (gyre). Yeats’ is suggesting that the this civilization that exists post WWI is experiencing its ending. Here, the recurring image of the an era ending and being replaced is quite explicit, the tension is created through this recurring image which can be found throughout his poetry, yet more explicitly in the The Second Coming. Yeats’ use of the imagery with “things fall apart; the centre cannot hold” furthers the intensity of the stanza, and sets up the second stanza to elaborate on the annunciation of the new era and amplifies the tension that is inherent throughout his poetry.
The 2nd stanza contends with the possibility of this new era perplexes the relationship between past and present. Yeats’ entwines the present with the past with the archaic, religious reasoning with the repetition “Surely some revelation is at hand; surely the second coming…. the second coming!”. The repetition helps the audience identify with the increasing tension, whilst also second guessing if this is the second coming, or a totally different beginning. By almost ironically screaming “the second coming” at the annunciations Yeats combines the Armageddon of Rev 16.16 with WWI and the modern world which creates a complex relationship between the past and present. This as an example of Yeats’ using his philosophical theory to interpret actions of the wider world. The 2nd stanza of the Second Coming is a pertinent example of Yeats using his philosophical theory to create recurring images of tension between past and present.
Tension is inherent in Yeats poetry through the intensity of his poetic lexicon. Leda and the Swan is an example of how Yeats’ use of animated language creates anxiety + tension, which is inseparable from the relationship between past and present in his poetry. Leda and the Swan was published in 1924, a period of confusion and uncertainty for Yeats and the modernizing world. Yeats love interest with Maude Gonne is faltering, Ireland has become independent from Britain, Russia is undergoing revolution, whilst the rest of Europe rebuilds after WWI. The abruptness and passion of this time period is felt from the beginning of the poem, with the zealous imagery of the first line “a sudden blow, the great wings beating”. The use of this imagery makes the audience feel tense and anxious, which means they can identify with the intensity of Yeats’ lexicon to create an inherent tension. The language of the opening line is vital in creating tension in the poem. It is this use of an image of the arrival of a new era; that is this ‘sudden blow’ has consequences for the past and foremost, for the present. As a result, Yeat’s use of strong language imagery is especially relevant to him creating an intrinsic tension between past and present.
Yeats’ philosophical theory in the 2nd stanza of Leda and The Swan alludes to correlations between Greek history and Yeats present day world. In lines 9-11 Yeats language can become greatly interpretable, which is done for a reason; Yeats is asking the reader to question the status quo by relating the events of Leda & The Swan to their own context. When read from a new-historicist literary theory angle we can take this as Yeats assuming the reader is an Irish/British person in the 1920’s and that the situation is more than likely to be interpreted as either Anglo-Irish relations or the post WWI world. The enumeration in lines 9-11 “A shudder in the loins engenders there The broken wall, the burning roof and tower And Agamemnon dead” leave the reader able to interpret the symbols being expressed by Yeats. The effect of this symbolism is that it puts the reader in the position of interpreting the symbols in to their context i.e. ‘the burning wall’ could be a symbol of a break down in Anglo-Irish relations or the wall could be British rule over Ireland which now faltering. The highly interpretable word choice is an effective strategy by Yeats to portray his philosophical theory of the tense relationship between past and present. As Yeats work is inherently disputable the relationship between past and present becomes intense. Yeats use of this greek parable highlights the inherent tension between past and present; Yeats is using the past to interpret the future and asks the same of his readers. Thus, Yeats’ allusion to past and present through his philosophical theory means creates an inherent tension between past and present.
Yeats’ uses his philosophical theory consisting of historical cycles, annunciations, and spiritualism to attempt to comprehend history, modern day Ireland and the wider world. The recurring image of an ‘annunciation’ of either the past or present day annunciations, that is inherent throughout his poetry is a source of tension, this tension that Yeats is lionized for is furthered with messianic language, and thus Yeats poetry creates an inherent tension between past and present. Whilst reading Yeats we must ask “So mastered by the brute blood of the air, Did we put on his knowledge with his power?” Yeats complex philosophical theory and intense language is powerful and bewildering, but this is why Yeats is such an integral part of the Irish, British and Western canon.