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, a journey in quest of identity within a tradition" (71). Stuart claims that the wisdom and peace that the author seeks can only be "realized through a poetic and spiritual grasp of the purity and even identity that exists between the legendary past of the Celtic world and the present" (72). The place is real and it is imagined. Clearly, Yeats intended for us to see both worlds through his lens.
Chrism Semansky agrees. He states, "The details in the first stanza read as a kind of blueprint for his Eden-like cabin... The second stanza, however, paints a more impressionistic scene... The imagery and figurative language......
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
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
Poetry of William Butler Yeats [...] theme of Ireland in Yeats poetry and show in several poems how this one theme is developed and changed over time. Poems discussed are "To Ireland in the Coming Times," "Down at the Salley Gardens," "No Second Troy," "When you are Old," "At Galway Races," "Red Hanrahan's Song about Ireland," "The Falling of the Leaves," and "The Two Trees." William Butler Yeats was
Thus, in 1714, Swift returned to Ireland, "to die like a poisoned rat in a hole," as he reported (Hunting 22). Yet Swift slowly reconciled himself to his life in Ireland and the 1720's proved to be an incredibly creative time for him, including his famous "Gulliver's Travels" in 1726 (Hunting 23). In his seventieth year he wrote that walking though the streets of Dublin, he received "a thousand hats
These images reinforce the serene environment the poet experiences. With "Friends," the sanctuary is emotional while "The Lake Isle of Innisfree" is a more physical experience bust just as powerful. Both experiences reinforce the notion that art is more than art because it touches the human soul and provides solace and refuge from the wear and tear of the world. Friends" and "The Lake Isle of Innisfree" are poems of
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