What made yeats a modernist poet? Discuss by giving examples from his poems in the block summary details?
Answers
William Butler Yeats in his poem “The Second Coming” speaks or predicts about the future of Ireland and its people. After the first World War when the whole world got shattered because of the destructions, the people hoped for peace and hoped that the Christ would come back for their salvation. Instead, a sphinx-like figure with “lion body and the head of a man” emerges which can be another form of destruction coming towards people since its birth because it has “the rocking cradle.”
W.B. Yeats in his poem “An Irish Airman Foresees His Death” speaks about an Irish soldier’s dilemma. The soldier being a patriot can neither take a back step on the battlefield nor he wants to harm his own people. He has no love for the people whom he has to protect but loves the people against whom he has to use his weapons. The parallel structure in the poem enhances the dilemma of the solider and makes it more specific to the readers. The repetition of the words in the lines or parallelism makes an idea or argument more specific and clear.
William Butler Yeats' poem “The Lake Isle of Innisfree” depicts the poet's longing for peace and happiness which he misses in the urban setting. He wants to escape from the noises of the city and craves for the silence and melodious sounds of nature in Innisfree. He wants to return to nature and explore the beauty of it which he cannot do while residing in cities.
Yeats Is a representative modern poet and presents the spirit of the age in his poetry.
Yeats is regarded as seed of modernism and the poet intensely aware of man in history as well as the soul in eternity.
It was later made that the realized his poetry needed realism to accompany the Irish mythology, folk tales, as well as subject matter to make everything more contemporary as well as relevant.