W.B. Yeats’ Opinion of War
W.B. Yeats was an Irish poet during the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. He wrote following the belief of “spiritus mundi”, the spirit of the universe and the collective unconscious or memory, which influences him to write around different mythologies, despite being a Christian. “Spiritus Mundi” leads to two of the works that reflect his opinion regarding war and conquest. Through these two works, “Leda and the Swan” and “The Second Coming,” Yeats’ opinion of war as a cyclistic and inevitable pattern set from the beginning of time.
“The Second Coming” opens in the structure of an English Sonnet, with eight lines in the first stanza. Within this stanza, Yeats creates an image of dismay and disorganization. In the first line, Yeats opens with “Turning and turning in the widening gyre,” which displays an action similar to that of a cyclone. This image supports Yeats’ belief that was is cyclistic and inevitable because of the circular motion associated with turning and cyclone. The inevitability is present because his first line describes what could be interpreted as a natural disaster, which is unstoppable. This applies to war …show more content…
The dictators of Nazi Germany, Spain, Russia, and China all meet the description of a “rough beast.” These dictators also resemble the structure of the poem because in the beginning, they seem to follow the format and normalities of the nation until they completely disregard ethics and moral, much like the second stanza abandons format and becomes freestyle and hectic (Sengupta).
Similar to “The Second Coming,” “Leda and the Swan” is a poem with symbolism regarding power and the cyclistic nature of war. In this poem, Zeus takes the shape of a swan to seduce a mortal named Leda. While themes and questions of seduction are present in the poem adaption of the greek myth, it originally told the story of Leda’s
W.B. Yeats was an Irish poet during the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. He wrote following the belief of “spiritus mundi”, the spirit of the universe and the collective unconscious or memory, which influences him to write around different mythologies, despite being a Christian. “Spiritus Mundi” leads to two of the works that reflect his opinion regarding war and conquest. Through these two works, “Leda and the Swan” and “The Second Coming,” Yeats’ opinion of war as a cyclistic and inevitable pattern set from the beginning of time.
“The Second Coming” opens in the structure of an English Sonnet, with eight lines in the first stanza. Within this stanza, Yeats creates an image of dismay and disorganization. In the first line, Yeats opens with “Turning and turning in the widening gyre,” which displays an action similar to that of a cyclone. This image supports Yeats’ belief that was is cyclistic and inevitable because of the circular motion associated with turning and cyclone. The inevitability is present because his first line describes what could be interpreted as a natural disaster, which is unstoppable. This applies to war …show more content…
The dictators of Nazi Germany, Spain, Russia, and China all meet the description of a “rough beast.” These dictators also resemble the structure of the poem because in the beginning, they seem to follow the format and normalities of the nation until they completely disregard ethics and moral, much like the second stanza abandons format and becomes freestyle and hectic (Sengupta).
Similar to “The Second Coming,” “Leda and the Swan” is a poem with symbolism regarding power and the cyclistic nature of war. In this poem, Zeus takes the shape of a swan to seduce a mortal named Leda. While themes and questions of seduction are present in the poem adaption of the greek myth, it originally told the story of Leda’s