Some of W.B. Yeats’ “greatest hits”:
“The Stolen Child” (p. 4), “Down by the Sally Gardens” (p. 6), “The Lake Isle of Innisfree” (p. 12), “When You Are Old” (p. 13), “The Host of the Air” (p. 18), “The Song of the Wandering Aengus” (p. 20), “He wishes for the Cloths of Heaven” (p. 23), “The Folly of Being Comforted” (p. 26), “Adam’s Curse” (p. 27), “The Fascination of What’s Difficult” (p. 31), “To a Friend whose Work has Come to Nothing” (p. 36), “The Irish Airman Foresees his Death” (p. 48), “The Collar-Bone of a Hare” (p. 49), “Easter 1916″ (p. 60), “The Second Coming” (p. 64), “Sailing to Byzantium” (p. 66), “Leda and the Swan” (p. 80), “Among School Children” (p. 81), “Crazy Jane Talks with the Bishop” (p. 96), “After Long Silence” (p. 97)”Long-legged Fly” (p. 126), “The Circus Animals’ Desertion” (p. 128)
December 11, 2009 at 11:06 AM
“Leda and the Swan” pg. 80
In this poem we came to the conclusion that the theme was about rape. First from the title of the poem , we were able to connote that “Leda an the Swan” was the ancient Greek story about how Zeus came to Leda as a swan and raped her. Each stanza contains images of darkness and a forced sexual encounter. In the first stanza there is the image of “helpless breast”, the second stanza there is “terrified vague fingers”, the third stanza there is “the broken wall”, and in the fourth stanza there is “brute blood”.
“The Folly of Being Comforted” pg. 26
Could she not be giving him enough attention. We talked about how with time there is a focus on her inner attributes. In the line, “the fire that stirs about her,” it describes how the fire in her could perhaps burn more brightly when time passes on. It could also be about the intensity of her physical attributes as well, “And little shadows come about her eyes;” and “your well-beloved’s hair has threads of grey”. Even when he talks about her nobleness, “Because of that great nobleness of hers”.
“An Irish Airman Foresees his Death” pg.48
The poem seems to describe the love of flying that the narrator has. We sort of connected the poem to the religion of Islam and how Muslims view death as a reward because of their intense devotion to God. Now, bringing this back to the poem, we think that the first two lines describe this feeling: “I know that I shall meet my fate,/ Somewhere among the clouds above;” That line seems to represent almost be content with having the end of his life be part of the clouds, because he devoted his time to them. He is not being forced to fight, but he expresses his love for being an aviator through the medium of fighting in the war.
December 11, 2009 at 11:04 AM
“The Second Coming” (p. 64)
everything in world is in turmoil: 1st stanza BC, 2nd stanza AD
“things fall apart”, “mere anarchy is loosed upon on the world”
“falcon cannot hear the falconer”: people on earth cannot hear God
“ceremony of innocence”: loss of innocence, allusion to Adam and Eve
“Spiritus Mundi”: spirit of the world
“shape with lion body and head of a man”=sphinx, godly figure, face represents face of dead king; could have some relation to Jesus
“reel shadows of the indignant desert birds”: contrast between death and life (sphinx isn’t alive, but the birds are)
“darkness drops again”
“rocking cradle”- baby Jesus
“twenty centuries of stony sleep”, from when AD starts to present day
“rough beast”= interesting way to describe Jesus
“After Long Silence” (p. 97)
age=wisdom
youth=ignorance
seems like 2 lovers had a fight
“descant”=to sing; could be metaphor for arguing
“He wishes for the Cloths of Heaven” (p.23)
narrator is poor
talking to a lover, saying I would give you everything I had, but I don’t have much
becoming vulnerable, by opening up to this girl
December 11, 2009 at 11:04 AM
The Fascination of What’s Difficult
concept of difficulty is fascinating
“dried sap out of my veins” very hard energy consuming
“rent spontaneous joy…out of my heart” temporarily pleasing
The Stolen Child
rhyming on random lines, no set pattern
first three stanzas discuss problems, last stanza illustrates the “away” place that has better conditions
“Stolen” is positive in this poem
stolen away from sorrow of the world
“Come away…/ To the water and the wild/…/For the world’s more full of weeping than you can understand”
Who steals the child?
“and chase the frothy bubbles”
child brought away to have fun
“While the world is full of troubles/anxious in its sleep”
Even when the world is resting, it has troubles to think of
He Wishes of the Cloths of Heaven
repetition of last word of line every other line
“heavens’ embroidered cloths” weavers in the Odyssey
Cloths of heaven are his hopes
poem could be written for his lover.
December 11, 2009 at 11:03 AM
“Mad as the Mist and Snow” (98)
-3 stanzas, 6 lines each (abcbdb), all ending in the same line
-stanza 1: bolting doors so he can be sheltered from the outside, everything outside is “mad as the mist and snow”
-stanza 2: he sites names like Horace, Homer, Plato, Tully-then talks about the average man and asks if they are as “mad as the mist and snow?”
-stanza 3: conclusion: what makes him sad is that even these big-name men are just as “mad as the mist and snow” as the average man
“To a Friend whose Work has come to Nothing” (36)
-each line is 6 or 7 syllables-trimeter
-immediately “the truth is out” but “be secret”–admit to yourself your defeat, but don’t admit it to everyone
-put truth out there, truth is tainted, people start criticizing, you have to take the criticism
-people who lie are living in denial, the thing you should do is that you shouldn’t be ashamed, be proud of it
-why is triumph capitalized?
-you learn more from failure than success
-not about the celebration-it’s about getting there that counts
-the most difficult thing is to own what you did wrong and not be ashamed of it
December 11, 2009 at 11:02 AM
“An Irish Airman Forsees his Death” is not only in iambic tetrameter, but also highly structure. With practically even lines, this poem has a rhyme scheme of abab, cdcd, efef, ghgh. In contemplating death, the narrator realizes that both life and war are inconsequential and there is no baring on the people he is fighting for. “The years to come seemed waste of breath” shows how the narrator continues to focus on living in the moment as opposed to be consumed by waiting for the possibility of tomorrow. The entire poem embodies the idea that life should not mean, but be, in the same way that Archibald McCleesh claims, “A poem should not mean, but be.” This idea is climaxed in the last line of “In balance with this life, this death”, showing how the narrator has gained ultimate perspective on life through making peace with the fact that life and death are a package deal.
Dorothy, Gordie, Kerrin
December 7, 2009 at 3:41 PM
I spun in the star twinkled night
And found a grey sprinkled kite.
It flew to the heavens
Came back at eleven
And I began all over at seven