Yeats
An inherent tension between stability and change is revealed through recurring images in Yeats' poetry.
To what extent does your interpretation of Yeats’ The Second Coming and at least one other poem align with this view?
William Butler Yeats’ poetry possesses strong imagery and themes of stability and change. Two of the poems, which especially highlight these elements, are The Second Coming and The Wild Swans At Coole. Within both of these poems the recurring imagery conjures creates strong elements of stability and change.
Within The Second Coming there are many images, which represent change. One of the most prominent of these is within the opening line of the poem, “the widening gyre”. This gyre is a direct symbol of the change Yeats was foreseeing. It represents the inevitability of historical process, and more directly Yeats’ comment on the transition of a civilization built upon Christian values changing to more malevolent and violent morals.
This image of change is strongly supported by other images through out the poem. For example “the falcon cannot hear the falconer” embodies the same theme of change occurring. This line represents that authority no longer has any credibility and the loss of faith in values and social structure as people begin to question the truth. The active verb of “fall apart” emphasizes the looming presence of metamorphosis ahead. Through out the poem many elements create an overall feel of the change bought upon by anarchy, action, death, violence and evil. This has a direct tension with the concept of stability also presented.
Stability is conveyed in various instances throughout The Second Coming. “The centre cannot hold” evokes the feeling of stability and existing values trying to fight the change and stay in place. However, “cannot hold,” reveals that Yeats feels there is no room within societies altered behavior for traditional values and morals.
Another instance where the tension between the two themes is
To what extent does your interpretation of Yeats’ The Second Coming and at least one other poem align with this view?
William Butler Yeats’ poetry possesses strong imagery and themes of stability and change. Two of the poems, which especially highlight these elements, are The Second Coming and The Wild Swans At Coole. Within both of these poems the recurring imagery conjures creates strong elements of stability and change.
Within The Second Coming there are many images, which represent change. One of the most prominent of these is within the opening line of the poem, “the widening gyre”. This gyre is a direct symbol of the change Yeats was foreseeing. It represents the inevitability of historical process, and more directly Yeats’ comment on the transition of a civilization built upon Christian values changing to more malevolent and violent morals.
This image of change is strongly supported by other images through out the poem. For example “the falcon cannot hear the falconer” embodies the same theme of change occurring. This line represents that authority no longer has any credibility and the loss of faith in values and social structure as people begin to question the truth. The active verb of “fall apart” emphasizes the looming presence of metamorphosis ahead. Through out the poem many elements create an overall feel of the change bought upon by anarchy, action, death, violence and evil. This has a direct tension with the concept of stability also presented.
Stability is conveyed in various instances throughout The Second Coming. “The centre cannot hold” evokes the feeling of stability and existing values trying to fight the change and stay in place. However, “cannot hold,” reveals that Yeats feels there is no room within societies altered behavior for traditional values and morals.
Another instance where the tension between the two themes is