Yeats

Yeats

  • Submitted By: marie1975
  • Date Submitted: 02/11/2009 1:00 PM
  • Category: English
  • Words: 402
  • Page: 2
  • Views: 1463

Personal Response to the Poetry of W.B Yeats

Introduction

While I sometimes found the poetry of W.B Yeats challenging, I also found it interesting because it forced me to think about themes I wouldn’t ordinarily think about. For example, in his poetry he considers the theme of death and he is often preoccupied with old age – something I haven’t yet considered! Yeats was interested in people and place, which appealed to me, and he often discusses the reality of life in Ireland while at the same time being preoccupied with the ideal world. Another aspect of Yeats’ poetry which appealed to me was his style of writing which I think is very formal and traditional.

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Like many poets, Yeats was preoccupied with death. I think he looks at death in a very detached way. We see this in …

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Yeats also seems to be fixated on old age and the process of ageing. I found this a little depressing but it forced me to think about my mortality and the fact that we are all ageing. It reminded me of a quote from the German philosopher Neitzche – “from the moment we’re born, we’re dying”.

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Yeats was clearly preoccupied with people and place in his poetry. Many of his poems are about specific people who were a part of his life – I like the fact that he honours friends and heroes in his work. Also his poems are largely set in particular places – not unlike Patrick Kavanagh, Yeats seemed to have a great love of Ireland.

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Even though Yeats seemed to have a love of Ireland, he was also often disillusioned with the country. There were many things he did not like about Ireland yet, in The Lake Isle of Innisfree he says he wants to escape to this beautiful part of the country. There is a contrast between the Ireland he criticises and the Ireland he adores.
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Yeats felt that writing poetry was craft, to be mastered. Yeats had been inspired by the romantic movement and this shows in his poetry. His...

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