Yeats' "The Stolen Child"
An Analysis of the Temptation to Flee Reality in Yeats' "The Stolen Child"
Yeats' "The Stolen Child" depicts a world in which fantasy and reality are in contention with one another. The conflict is between the sense of reality (barely perceptible and inundated by a flood of dreamlike perceptions) and the flight of fantasy. A parallel might be drawn between the poem and the social problem of addiction. If the poem on one level is about a child's escape/flight from reality into fantasy, it might also be said that the poem on a deeper level is about those who suffer from addiction are unable to face reality and must fly from it. Indeed, the imagery used by the fairy narrator evokes scenes comparable to states of inebriation or drunkenness. While fear and the ominous sense of death both appear to be underlying factors in the poem, this paper will show how Yeats' "The Stolen Child" may be read as a poem about the conflict of duty (in the world) and desire (represented by fantasy).
The fairies represent the world of fantasy, flight, fearlessness and freedom from suffering in the grown up world, which is described as having no answer for why it suffers. Society, which is only hinted at by the words "world" and "suffering," represents reality. Because the poem is narrated or sung by the representatives of the fantastic world, the perspective is one-sided and slanted or biased in favor of developing an appreciation for the fantastic realm of the fairies. Indeed, one locale after another is described in exciting detail, intimating that there is no end to the amount of fun to be had in fairy land -- as if, in fact, it is a place of eternal delight. By the end of the poem (and with the last haunting lines that signify the song has worked and that the child has accepted the invitation), it is clear that the addressee is being lured or tempted away from its home in the real world, where (so it is suggested) nothing waits but unanswerable grief. The conflict in the poem is buried beneath the repetition of verses...
While imagination is important to the poem, it is not all of it. Stuart claims that the poem is often "dismissed as a youthful, nostalgic, derivatively romantic lyric" (Stuart 71). In this way, we can see how the poem is more than just a wishful place. The "retreat to the island of Innisfree is a journey in search of poetic wisdom and spiritual peace, a journey prompted by supernatural yearnings,
Thus, at the end of the poem, Yeats uses words to suggest that Leda has made a full transformation from weak women to one with a sexual assertiveness that can only be described as a shudder and a power that is greater than Zeus's. Through this suggestion, Yeats also points out that women are different than the Greek's conception of them in the myth. Instead of being weak, his
The final lyrics in this poem divert back to the young girl that has stolen Yeats attention away from politics. The line reads "But O. that I were young again/and held her in my arms!(Yeats)" This line is significant in that Yeats seemingly asserts that although there is a certain fascination with politics, to a young man winning the affections of a girl is too much of a distraction and
From there, the speaker addresses the sages and asks that they teach him to sing. In other words, he is tired of the life that he has on this earth, and he wants to give up his earthly form and move on to what comes next. He feels that he is still fastened to something (his body) that is dying, and he wants to set free his soul and move
Yeats justification of contemporary Irish Nationalism by creating a myth of the Irish past: The use of magic, myth and folklore in the poetry of W.B. Yeats, specifically in his book "The Wanderings of Oisin and Other Poems." Although the poetry of the Irish W.B. Yeats is largely known today for the writer's espousal of a spare, harsh modernism, in his early 20th century poetry, Yeats' tone in verse also had a
In all of these poems Yeats brings these fantastic worlds into such clarity -- both visually and emotionally -- for the reader that they feel swept away for the time they are reading. "Who Goes with Fergus" is exceptional in its ability to transport the reader into Yeats' world especially considering its brevity. Finally, the poem that is most poignant in placing the Romantic movement is "The Wilde Swans at
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