W.B. Yeats Poems

This blog is a response to the blog task assigned by Dr. Dilip Barad sir. This blog is dealing with two poems of W.B. Yeats, ‘The Second Coming’ and ‘On Being Asked For War Poem’. It's critical reading, re-reading through Indian Poetics and pandemic reading of The Second Reading.

W.B. Yeats poems

W.B. Yeats:

William Butler Yeats (13 June 1865 – 28 January 1939) was an Irish poet, dramatist, writer and one of the foremost figures of 20th century literature. From 1900 his poetry grew more physical, realistic and politicized. Yeats was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature in 1923, his major works include 1928's The Tower and Words for Music Perhaps and Other Poems, published in 1932. Yeats is considered one of the key twentieth-century English-language poets. He was a Symbolist poet, using allusive imagery and symbolic structures. His use of symbols is physical that is both itself and a suggestion of other, perhaps immaterial, timeless qualities.

The Second Coming:

The Second Coming poem was written in 1919 and was first published in ‘The Dial’ in 1920. afterwards included in his 1921 collection of verses Michael Robarts and the Dancer. .It's A Modernist poem as a dirge for the Decline of European Civilization and it can also be called an Apocalyptic poem.

Click here to read an original poem.

The Second Coming poem is written in the 1919 aftermath of world war 1 and the beginning of Irish War of Independence. This Information easily helps us to read the Poem as a war poem. But if we read the history of 1918-19 we find that it was also a period of Flu pandemic. This creates a confusion whether Yeats wrote this Apocalyptic poem in reference to war or flu, as the poem does not suggest any specific reference in it.

We read the poem as a war poem as war is recorded in our mind very differently than pandemics, Pandemics are individualized while War is a national fight which is powerfully recorded in our minds. Today when we are facing Corona Pandemic we are pulled to read literary works with pandemic insight, till day we used to study same texts but never read it through pandemic sight as we never faced it or it was not in our memory.

Here we are going to read this poem as a pandemic poem.

Elizabeth Outka in her text ‘Viral Modernism: The Influenza Pandemic and Interwar Literature’ (2019) explains a bit about the authors who addressed pandemic in their work. Outka looked closely at the works of Eliot, Woolf and Yeats who have experienced Flu in person. In this blog we will read W.B. Yeats poem The Second Coming with pandemic insight with reference to Elizabeth Outka’s book ‘Viral Modernism: The Influenza Pandemic and Interwar Literature’.

As Eliot said in his essay ‘Tradition and Individual Talent’ the literary work must not be affected by the poet's personal experience. The main aim of literature or a literary work is to provide details about the condition of the society in which it is written. The poet cannot depersonalize his/her work from his personal experience. So first of all we would have to see what W.B. Yeats or any of his loved ones has faced influenza. If he or any of his loved ones would have faced it his mind must be occupied with all the influenza which will be mirrored in his work.

Reading Yeats’ biography we do find that his wife, Georgie Hyde- Lees was pregnant and was caught by Influenza. In that period the highest ratio of death was among the pregnant ladies, around 70% pregnant ladies were dying because of influenza. Yeats wrote this poem when his wife was recovering. Looking at this biographical element we can interpret this poem to be a pandemic poem, it is definitely a war poem but we also find Influenza effect recorded in this poem.

Now we will read a few lines of a poem which verifies pandemic recorded in the poem.

Turning and turning in the widening gyre

The falcon cannot hear the falconer;

Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;

These lines of the poem capture the terrible situation of that period, the authority is not able to control the condition of. We have seen this situation in the Corona pandemic when the people were dying and getting infected by the Corona pandemic. We didn't have medicine or vaccines, we were not having any solution to this disease and everything was falling apart. We can imagine the influenza pandemic must be having the same situation and that must be the reason behind writing these lines: ‘Centre cannot hold’ the thing was in control and everything was ‘falling apart’.

The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere

The ceremony of innocence is drowned;

‘Blood- dimmed tide’ this imagery very strongly indicates influenza as the frequent effect of influenza was bleeding from nose, ears and mouth. ‘Ceremony of innocence’, we can read it as thousands of people who did no sin, innocent were dying. We can relate it to the Corona pandemic, how young and old everyone was dying. Here through ceremony of innocence we can also read that in influenza pregnant womens were dying, the child who was not yet born who has not yet done any ‘karma’, the most innocent one were also dying.

The question might arise why the pandemic is recorded in the background and why it is not directly recorded. We are reading an apocalyptic poem directly in context to war and the pandemic insight becomes secondary. As we saw in the poem above ‘The Second Coming’.

We have gone through pandemic lens, the video will give analysis of the poem.

We already discussed that pandemic or disease is a personal battle and therefore it is recorded differently in everyone's mind and the war is a national issue and it is recorded to everyone in a similar way as it is shown. If a poet a writer writes anything on a contemporary issue they might face some political pressure for not writing negative on any issues like pandemic or disease and write something in the favor of authority and perhaps that's only reason that why in the ‘On Being asked for the War’ Yeats has written

A poet's mouth be silent, for in truth

We have no gift to set a statesman right;

Which suggests whether the poet write truth or not the society the people is only always going to listen to authority, the Statesman and the mob will troll the writer.

As it happened in our Corona pandemic the Gujarati part 2 switch off the all social media accounts for writing a Gujarati poem showing Real world and negative connotation to authority she was trolled and her controversy was printed in the national newspapers also here is his poem

Looking at the situation we can feel what W.B. Yeats is going through and that's the reason why he is asking that it's better ‘a poet's mouth be silent’. And perhaps this is the reason why today influenza is not recorded in the people's mind the way war is done. we are able to read the poem with the pandemic instead of War but for that we need influenza in our mind and today we are reading it as we are facing the same Corona pandemic and this is opening our minds to read in past that whether any pandemic was present in the past and if yes then how it is recorded in the literature. today this poem this Gujarati poem is recording the real-world, perhaps in the future when the pandemic will erupt society will read this poem and will understand the situation of the world in last pandemic.

On being Asked for a War Poem

Let us analyze ‘On being Asked for a War Poem’ poem as we discussed its line above.

I think it better that in times like these

A poet's mouth be silent, for in truth

We have no gift to set a statesman right;

He has had enough of meddling who can please

A young girl in the indolence of her youth,

Or an old man upon a winter’s night.

It is a small 6 line poem with an ABC ABC rhyming scheme, written in 1915. Yeats was asked by his friend Henry James to write a political poem in response to world war I. Yeats wrote the above titular poem and it has undergone various titles-

To a friend who has asked me to sign his manifesto to the neutral nations	Changed to ‘A Reason…’ In a letter written to Henry James
A Reason for Keeping Silent	Published in Edith Wharton’s A book of Homeless (1916)
On being asked for a War Poem	Published in The Wild Swans at Coole

Critical Analysis of the Poem:

Looking at the title and as discussed before, the poem is a response to the request of a friend to write a political poem in response to War. The poetry begins with a question about the role of the poem in society. As Shelley, a great Romantic poet, once called poets “the unacknowledged legislators of the world”. An ancient philosopher, Plato, even thought that poetry should be banned as corrupting to society. The poem's line ‘A poet's mouth be silent’, Indicates that yet is supporting Plato's view of the poet being silent ‘in times like these’ Which suggest the time like war, the difficult time of the nation or the world. Here we find a contradiction where the poet is writing in the poem that he or she should remain silent it seems the poet has used Metonymy.

‘have no gift to set a statesman right;’ suggested that even if the writers speak or write they have no write to ‘gift’ guide or ability to tell or interfere in any political leader or issue. Which clearly meant that poetry has no connection with politics.

‘He has had enough of meddling who can please’ In this fourth line of the poem that can be read in the two ways as a poet or as a statesman. As the word Statesman is used recently we will first read with reference to the statesman through these lines he suggests that Statesman have done enough ‘meddling’ the other word used for interference in the life of a youth and the life of the old man. And with quick change of imagery by using a poet at the place of he, we can read with a positive connotation that Youth and the old both the generation enjoy is the poem’s interference in their life they enjoy the poet's meddling youth enjoy with its romantic versus while the old enjoys his ballads.

This poem is a contradictory poem, it has an act of refusal-as-assent. It consists of an air of irony, the poet himself is asking poet’s to be silent and he himself is writing it through poem.

We also get confused as to why poets are not happy with war or not supporting it. Because the poet is Pacifist. And the reason for his refusal for not writing a war poem is seen in his letter written to his friend Lady Gregory: ‘I suppose, like most wars it is at root a bagman’s war, a sacrifice of the best for the worst. I feel strangely enough most for the young Germans who are now being killed.’

In a letter of the same year, sent to John Quinn, Yeats wrote that the First World War was ‘merely the most expensive outbreak of insolence and stupidity the world has ever seen and I give it as little thought as I can.’

Also his poems like ‘Easter 1916’, ‘An Irish Airman foresees his death’ suggests his unhappiness towards the war. Ireland was a colony of the British, Irish soldiers had to fight a war not of their patriotic duty but by force of Britisher. We can interpret that it might also be the reason why poet is not interested in wars, Irish people were fighting in war but they had no profit, they were bounded by Britishers.

We have recently learned about Indian Poetics. Read my Blog on Indian Poetics [CLICK HERE].  Let's apply Indian Poetics concept in this two western poems.

On Being Asked for War poem

• According to Kuntaka’s Vakrokti theory, the poem has a Vakrokti element in “On being asked for a war poem’ cause of refusal-as- assent in the poem. Specifically Prakaran Vakrokti.
• Along with, varn vinyas vakrokti- ‘I think it better that in times like these’.
• We also find Ksemedra’s Auchitya theory, as it is a symmetric poem- Iambic pentameter.
• According to Anandvardhan’s theory of Dhvani- ‘A poet's mouth be silent’ this line has Ras Dhvani (Vyanjana), it has direct meaning of staying silent but in the poem through this line poet is satirizing that we should stay silent as no authority is going to listen indirectly its satire to authority, we are supposed to understand the other meaning despite its having direct meaning.
• According to Bharat’s rasa theory, we find Adbhutam originated from (amazement and wonder) rasa in it.

The Second Coming

• According to Kuntaka’s theory of Vakrokti, The imagery of lion’s body and man’s head and rebirth of god seems ironic, which is not possible in real life.
• Vyanjana dhvani in ‘The falcon cannot hear the falconer’ has a direct meaning of a bird not being in control but we are supposed to imagine the world/ situation not being in control also “the blood-dimmed tide” stands for waves of violence, while “the rough beast” stands for “the Second Coming.”
• Varn vinyas Vakrokti in ‘Turning and turning’.
• According to Bhamaha’s Alankar theory, ‘A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,’ we find upama alankara;
• Utpreksha alankar in ‘Surely the Second Coming is at hand.’
• And Rupak Alankara in “the blood-dimmed tide” stands for waves of violence, while “the rough beast” stands for “the Second Coming.” ‘The falcon cannot hear the falconer’ has a direct meaning of a bird not being in control but we are supposed to imagine the world/ situation not being in control.
• According to Bharat’s rasa theory, Karunya ( compassion, mercy) rasa compassion tears the sufferers who have no choice else then second birth of almighty; Bibhatasam (disgust) and ‘Bhayanakam’( horror, terror) raas in felt in imagery of lion’s body and man’s head imagery
• Auchitya is also found as it is a symmetric poem.

This is all my understanding about poems. I have tried to give the majority of Indian poetics (based of theories present in our syllabus) theory applicable in the poem. If you find any to add please write below in the comment box. I hope this might have been helpful to you.

[Words- 2400]