English Yeats Quotes + Anaylsis

TASK 2 English Advanced HSC Preliminary Course

Yeats Context

W.B. Yeats was an Irish Romantic poet whose work evolved to reflect modernist ideas, using symbolism, mythology, and personal reflection to explore themes like identity, conflict, and change.

Wild Swans at Coole - 1917 context

Written in WW1 at Lady Gregory’s Coole Park Estate - Is a romantic poem and focuses on connection with nature.

Form and structure of Wild Swans

Five sestets (six-line stanzas)with a regular rhyme scheme (ABCBDD) and loosely iambic

Effect of the structure of Wild Swans

The stable form mirrors the reflective, mediative tone and the cyclical pattern of nature (like the returning swans each year). Gentles rhythm enhances the nostalgia and contrasts with the emotional unrest of the speaker.

Quote 1 - Wild Swans

“The nineteenth autumn has come upon me since I first made my count”

Quote 1 Analysis - Wild Swans

This line reflects a sense of time's passage and the speaker's introspection about their life. The specific mention of "the nineteenth autumn" emphasizes a cycle of change and loss, highlighting themes of memory and longing.

Quote 2 Wild Swans

“Their hearts have not grown old”

Quote 2 Anaylsis - Wild Swans

This line suggests a juxtaposition between the speaker's aging and the eternal vitality of the swans. It highlights themes of enduring beauty and the idea that true essence remains unchanged despite the passage of time.

Quote 3 - Wild Swans

“All’s changed”

Quote 3 Anaylsis Wild Swans

Brief but powerful expression of loss and transformation over time.It conveys a sense of inevitability regarding change, reflecting on the speaker's feelings of nostalgia and the passage of time, contrasting the past with the present.

Quote 4 - Wild Swans

“I have looked upon those brilliant creatures”

Quote 4 Analysis (Wild Swans)

A reflection on beauty and the transient nature of life, this line emphasizes the speaker's awe towards the swans, symbolizing purity and freedom. It highlights the tension between the ephemeral experiences and the longing to hold onto them.

Quote 5 - Wild Swans

“The bell-beat of their wings above my head”

Quote 5 Analysis (Wild Swans)

Auditory imagery showing the swans’ energetic movement in their youth compared to the aged speaker’s stillness. It evokes a sense of nostalgia and the passage of time, contrasting the vitality of youth with the speaker's reflective state.

Easter 1916 (1921) Context

A poem reflecting on the Easter Rising, exploring themes of change, sacrifice, and the complexities of national identity during a pivotal moment in Irish history.

Form and structure of Easter 1916

The poem is written in a loose structure with varying stanza lengths and utilizes a mix of rhyme and free verse. This form reinforces the chaotic emotions surrounding the Easter Rising and reflects the changing nature of Ireland.

Effect of form on Easter 1916

The form of "Easter 1916" contributes to its emotional depth, with its irregular structure and varied rhythms mirroring the tumultuous events of the Easter Rising. This dynamic form emphasizes the tension between chaos and clarity in the depiction of the historical moment.

Quote 1 - Easter

“All changed, changed utterly: A terrible beauty is born”

Quote 1 Analysis (Easter)

This line encapsulates the transformative impact of the Easter Rising, illustrating the paradox of beauty emerging from tragedy. The juxtaposition of 'changed utterly' highlights the irrevocable shift in Irish identity and the complexity of revolution.

Quote 2 - Easter

“Too long a sacrifice, Can make a stone of the heart”

Quote 2 Analysis (Easter)

This line suggests that prolonged suffering and sacrifice can desensitize a person, rendering them emotionally numb. Yeats reflects on the emotional toll of revolutionary struggle, indicating that it can lead to a hardened heart.

Quote 3 - Easter

“I have met them at the close of day Coming with vivid faces”

Quote 3 Analysis - Easter

In this line, Yeats describes meeting individuals who have been deeply affected by their experiences, suggesting their emotions are strong and vivid. This imagery evokes the idea of personal encounters intertwined with the broader themes of cultural and political awakening.

Quote 4 - Easter

“He, too, has resigned his part in the casual comedy”

Quote 4 Analysis - Easter

Acknowledges the rebels’ departure from mundane life to something tragic and heroic. This line signifies the rebels' rejection of their previous roles in society, highlighting their commitment to a greater cause, transforming their existence into one of meaningful significance and sacrifice.

Quote 5 - Easter

“Minute by minute they live": The stone’s in the midst of it all.”

Quote 5 Analysis - Easter

Contrast between fluid nature and unchanging resolve of the revolutionaries.

The Second Coming (1921) Context

Written just after WW1, during the russian revolution and amid global upheaval. Yeats believed in a cyclical theory of history (gyres) - alternating periods of order and chaos. Expresses a sense of doom and the fear that the modern world is spiraling into destruction.

Second Coming (1921) Form and Structure

Two Stanzas (8 lines and 14 lines)

Loose iambic pentameter - with irregular rhyme

Resembles a sonnet but deformed - like the world it describes.

Effect of form in The Second Coming

• The disjointed rhythm and lack of strict rhyme reflect chaos and fragmentation.

• The sonnet-like form being disrupted reflects Yeats’s view that old systems (like religious or poetic traditions) are breaking down.

• The buildup from calm to prophetic fury is felt in the rising intensity of rhythm.

Quote 1 - The Second Coming

“Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold”

Quote 1 analysis - The Second Coming

Famous line depicting the collapse of order and social structures. Emphatic language - sense of the world spiralling out of control into disorder and chaos.

Quote 2 - Second Coming

“The blood-dimmed tide is loosed”

Quote 2 Analysis - The Second Coming

Blood metaphor and spondee. Emphasises collapse of order and authority in an unstable and violent age.

Quote 3 - Second Coming

“The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity”

Quote 3 analysis - Second Coming

Commentary on moral inversion in turbulent times. Yeats remarks on the quality of people where “the best” lack the conviction to be and make things better while at the same time “the worst” are active in their negative opinions.

Quote 4 Second Coming

“What rough beast, its hour come round at last, Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?”

Quote 4 Analysis Second Coming

Visual imagery of beast heightens the sense of threat that is posed to human civilisation. The beast is uncivilised, the new worldthat will be established is unimaginable to the persona and reader. “Come round at last” suggests the idea that it has been waiting for this moment - this evokes the inevitability of cycles of history.

Quote 5 Second Coming

“Turning and turnining in the widening gyre”

Quote 5 Analysis Second Coming

Allusion to Yeats’ theory of the gyres - a gyre is a spiraling, conical shape representing cycles of history and individual development. Suggests the inevitability of the new era. Uses repetition of “turning” to create a sense of disorientation.

Among School Children (1927) context

• Written after Yeats’s visit to a convent school in Waterford, when he was serving as an Irish Senator.

• The poem blends personal reflection, philosophical thought, and mythology, exploring aging, love (particularly his past with Maud Gonne), and education.

• Influenced by Platonism and Yeats’s mystical beliefs, it questions how intellect, body, and spirit work together.

• Represents Yeats as an old man revisiting his youth and contemplating the unity of life and art.

Among School Children Form and structure

8 stanzas of ottava rima (eight-line stanzas with rhyme scheme abababcc)

Regular iambic pentameter

Effect of form on Among

• The formal, consistent rhythm mirrors the philosophical tone and Yeats’s attempt to impose order on the chaos of aging and memory.

• The final rhyming couplet in each stanza adds weight to philosophical conclusions and rhetorical reflections.

• The controlled meter contrasts with deep emotional and existential questions — form reflecting the discipline of the school, while the poet’s mind wanders.

Quote 1 Among

“Old clothes upon old sticks to scare a bird”

Quote 1 analysis among

This line uses a visual metaphor to depict the aging body as something worn and fragile. The image of suggests a scarecrow—an object meant to mimic the human form but ultimately lifeless and ineffective, especially if the clothes and sticks are old. The scarecrow’s purpose is to frighten, yet the aging body may no longer have the power or presence to do so.

Quote 2 Among

“Did she put on his knowledge with his power / Before the indifferent beak could let her drop?”

Quote 2 Analysis Among

This line alludes to the myth of Leda and the Swan with philosophical questioning about whether knowledge and power are truly gained in transformative experiences, or if fate (the “indifferent beak”) simply plays its part.

Quote 3 Among

“And thought itself,… labouring in ecstasy”

Quote 3 Analysis Among

Here, intellectual activity is described as a passionate, almost spiritual effort. The phrase suggests that deep thought is not just rational but also emotionally intense and transformative.

Quote 4 Among

“But who can tell the dancer from the dance”

Quote 4 Analysis Among

This famous line rhetorically questions the boundary between the performer and the performance, suggesting a unity of life, art, and identity. It serves as a philosophical climax.

Quote 5 Among

“The children learn to cipher and to sing”

Quote 5 Analysis Among

This line uses imagery to portray the poem’s abstract reflections against the concrete reality of a schoolroom, where children are learning both logic (“cipher”) and creativity (“sing”). The present tense grounds the poem in ongoing life.