In Memory Of Wb Yeats Poem Analysis

An impression with no specific form or rhyme scheme with a caring expression for grief, describes an elegy that is seen in poetry. Every elegy is different in structure and no elegy is going to look the same. "In Memory of W.B. Yeats" poem, an elegy that mourns the loss of a well admired poet. The death of this well-known poet was like any other day. That day so many decades ago began when the ground was frozen and the snow was piled high. The setting was in a hospital somewhere in Ireland. His condition was near death with spectators peering down. The voice of the poet did not die that cold day, but lives on in his admirers. W.H. Auden uses poetic devices such as imagery, metaphors, and tone in the poem “In Memory of W.B. Yeats". The structure …show more content…
Imagery allows the reader to experience a deeper understanding of the setting and the climate. In this particular poem there are several examples of this poetic device. The first example of imagery takes us into the forests with the scampering of animals. Our mind drifts to the simplicity of everyday life and that life moves forward even when someone has died. “The wolves ran on through the evergreen forests, / The peasant river was untempted by the fashionable quays (8-9). The wolves continued on and the river was not faded by the death of W.B. Yeats. Nature is healing to our well-being and draws us to the trees in the forest and any form of water. Auden uses another example of imagery. “When the brokers are roaring like beasts on the floor of the Bourse, / And the poor have the sufferings to which they are very accustomed, / And each in the cell of himself is almost convinced of his freedom (25-27). Again, the world is not going to be halted by the death of one person. The brokers are still going to yell on the stock exchange floor. The poor are still suffering and nothing is different. These are everyday events and the death of somebody will not stop them from happening. There is one more example of imagery in this poem. “The death of the poet was kept from his poems” (11). The poems that Yeats wrote live on after his death. His poems have a voice …show more content…
It can change from one part of the poem to the next or even from line to line. The first line of the poem invokes anxiety and a feeling of fright. “He disappeared in the dead of winter” (1). This immediately gets the reader’s attention. The next example of tone is located in the third stanza. “The squares of mind were empty” (15). This implies the dread one feels when death is imminent. It also implies the time on earth is shortly fading. The tone changes in the beginning of section two to one of lightness and happiness. “You were silly like us; your gift survived it all” (32). Yeats was not always serious he had an outgoing personality. Yeats was much like his friends but he stood out for special talent of composing poetry. In section three the tone takes a different direction. “Earth, receive an honoured guest” (42). This line depicts a somber and depressing tone because Yeats is being put into the ground. This line states that he is well respected by the author W.H. Auden. The tone is somewhat of a roller coaster, starting with fright, moving to lightheartedness, and ending with the dread that death can bring. Tone injects the reader into the