Leda and the Swan
This poem by Yeats tells about a certain mythological scene between Zeus, the head of all Gods in Greek mythology , and Leda, a mortal woman. It is first published in 1928 and uses the A-B-A-B rhyming scheme all throughout the story.
It is said that Zeus changed himself into a swan in order to seduce Leda, who, as a result of this brutality becomes the mother of Helen of Troy-the woman who is credited with starting the Trojan War.
The idea of the poem is to simply express the destruction to destruction relation.
He also used words such as a sudden blow to represent Zeus’s overwhelming power and to relay that Leda was simply, with such force, attacked.
Here, the speaker is questioning what exactly, if anything, that Leda took from this attack. In a way, this leaves Leda with the upper hand. "Did she put on his knowledge with his power/Before the indifferent beak could let her drop?" This statement questions what Leda might have gained from the attack. As a woman unable to fend off the overpowering nature of this attack, Leda had no say in the matter of this brutal rape. Yet the speaker seems to be questioning whether or not Leda left this scene a changed woman-perhaps even empowered?
At first, I was puzzled why the character Agamemnon appeared in the flow of this story. This poem really needs thorough research so you will fully appreciate its uniqueness and coherence.
I definitely admire the creativity of the poet on constructing this piece for in three stanzas only he already cited two of Greek mythology’s tragedies.
The Second Coming
This piece by Yeats was written in 1919 and published in 1921 in his collection of poems Michael Robartes and the Dancer. It narrates a certain part of the Christian tradition, Armageddon. In here, the persona tells us such dark images to support and to serve as a description to this coming. This can be found in the last book of the bible, The Book of Revelation. It was said that Yeats came up with this due to the things he is presently seeing in his environment, war and destruction.
In here, he relates his visions of what this Second Coming will have its effect on the human race. He also included the Sphinx as supported by the lines A shape with lion body and the head of a man, for which in Greek mythology symbolizes bad luck and destruction.
There was no rhyming scheme in this piece instead he filled it with symbols which made it flowery giving it a very strong and dark tone. The gyre, however, served as the motif in this piece which implies that history is takes place in cycles.
The last two lines of the first stanza are simply a commentary on the times. Yeats says "The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity." This also suggests a dissociation between the best, which Yeats identifies as head people, the intellectuals, and the worst, whom Yeats associates with the mob who are those who react with passionate intensity not with careful intellectual study and expression.
I somehow disagreed on how the author put up this piece. Although he has some points, but for me this is more on biblical and is fixed with supernatural beings. The people in this generation doesn’t see Apocalypse that way only. Destruction would be corruption, war among different countries due to racial discrimination, greed, religious differences, and the like.
An Irish Airman Forsees His Death
This is written in 1918 and was published in the Macmillan edition of The Wild Swans at Coole in 1919. It is in a first person point of view. It contains 16 lines and uses chiasmus of ABCCBA and the ABAB as rhyming scheme.
This was said to be one of Yeats’ reflective narrative on Major Robert Gregory who was the son of Yeats’ co-founder of Abbey Theater, Lady Augusta Gregory. Robert was a pilot and in the he was thinking of the reasons why he chose to fly. It tells that it wasn’t about responsibilities that drag him to do such but it was more of taking new heights in life. The word patriotism is somehow emitted in the flow of the concept. As we all know, aviators are supposed to have this “love for country” as their objective but on this piece it was more of boredom and suicide.
The poem is a soliloquy or dramatic monologue in which a World War I Irish airman appears to display fearless equanimity and cold-sober honesty before his imminent death. Despite the airman’s happiness, bravery, and assertion of independent will, or specifically, his “lonely impulse of delight,” it is difficult to conclude what, in fact, Yeats is praising. The poem’s last line, “In balance with this life, this death,” is not clear. There are at least two interpretations possible of “this life”: one could be the airman’s life as a fighter pilot, and the other could be his wasted time away from war, including his projected wasted future as a live man.
The poem progresses into telling the reader the many reasons why he didn't do this for and ending it with the one reason that he did.
In the final four lines I think that he is stating that he did not see any reason to keep on living and that to die would not be a tragedy, but a way of equalizing his life with his death. Possibly his life was not filled with planned out things and just sudden impulses and he thought that he should die doing something of sudden impulse.
Upon reading the poem, you may have this war image building up as you go upon stanza by stanza. At first you might have a different view on the poem but if you will have a look on its background you will understand fully its existence.
It is said that Zeus changed himself into a swan in order to seduce Leda, who, as a result of this brutality becomes the mother of Helen of Troy-the woman who is credited with starting the Trojan War.
The idea of the poem is to simply express the destruction to destruction relation.
He also used words such as a sudden blow to represent Zeus’s overwhelming power and to relay that Leda was simply, with such force, attacked.
Here, the speaker is questioning what exactly, if anything, that Leda took from this attack. In a way, this leaves Leda with the upper hand. "Did she put on his knowledge with his power/Before the indifferent beak could let her drop?" This statement questions what Leda might have gained from the attack. As a woman unable to fend off the overpowering nature of this attack, Leda had no say in the matter of this brutal rape. Yet the speaker seems to be questioning whether or not Leda left this scene a changed woman-perhaps even empowered?
At first, I was puzzled why the character Agamemnon appeared in the flow of this story. This poem really needs thorough research so you will fully appreciate its uniqueness and coherence.
I definitely admire the creativity of the poet on constructing this piece for in three stanzas only he already cited two of Greek mythology’s tragedies.
The Second Coming
This piece by Yeats was written in 1919 and published in 1921 in his collection of poems Michael Robartes and the Dancer. It narrates a certain part of the Christian tradition, Armageddon. In here, the persona tells us such dark images to support and to serve as a description to this coming. This can be found in the last book of the bible, The Book of Revelation. It was said that Yeats came up with this due to the things he is presently seeing in his environment, war and destruction.
In here, he relates his visions of what this Second Coming will have its effect on the human race. He also included the Sphinx as supported by the lines A shape with lion body and the head of a man, for which in Greek mythology symbolizes bad luck and destruction.
There was no rhyming scheme in this piece instead he filled it with symbols which made it flowery giving it a very strong and dark tone. The gyre, however, served as the motif in this piece which implies that history is takes place in cycles.
The last two lines of the first stanza are simply a commentary on the times. Yeats says "The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity." This also suggests a dissociation between the best, which Yeats identifies as head people, the intellectuals, and the worst, whom Yeats associates with the mob who are those who react with passionate intensity not with careful intellectual study and expression.
I somehow disagreed on how the author put up this piece. Although he has some points, but for me this is more on biblical and is fixed with supernatural beings. The people in this generation doesn’t see Apocalypse that way only. Destruction would be corruption, war among different countries due to racial discrimination, greed, religious differences, and the like.
An Irish Airman Forsees His Death
This is written in 1918 and was published in the Macmillan edition of The Wild Swans at Coole in 1919. It is in a first person point of view. It contains 16 lines and uses chiasmus of ABCCBA and the ABAB as rhyming scheme.
This was said to be one of Yeats’ reflective narrative on Major Robert Gregory who was the son of Yeats’ co-founder of Abbey Theater, Lady Augusta Gregory. Robert was a pilot and in the he was thinking of the reasons why he chose to fly. It tells that it wasn’t about responsibilities that drag him to do such but it was more of taking new heights in life. The word patriotism is somehow emitted in the flow of the concept. As we all know, aviators are supposed to have this “love for country” as their objective but on this piece it was more of boredom and suicide.
The poem is a soliloquy or dramatic monologue in which a World War I Irish airman appears to display fearless equanimity and cold-sober honesty before his imminent death. Despite the airman’s happiness, bravery, and assertion of independent will, or specifically, his “lonely impulse of delight,” it is difficult to conclude what, in fact, Yeats is praising. The poem’s last line, “In balance with this life, this death,” is not clear. There are at least two interpretations possible of “this life”: one could be the airman’s life as a fighter pilot, and the other could be his wasted time away from war, including his projected wasted future as a live man.
The poem progresses into telling the reader the many reasons why he didn't do this for and ending it with the one reason that he did.
In the final four lines I think that he is stating that he did not see any reason to keep on living and that to die would not be a tragedy, but a way of equalizing his life with his death. Possibly his life was not filled with planned out things and just sudden impulses and he thought that he should die doing something of sudden impulse.
Upon reading the poem, you may have this war image building up as you go upon stanza by stanza. At first you might have a different view on the poem but if you will have a look on its background you will understand fully its existence.
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