William Butler Yeats: life, works, and literary significance

¶ … 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 a famous Irish poet whose love for his homeland is evident in his works. This love changed and matured as Yeats himself matured, but he never lost the affection he felt for his homeland, or the ability to communicate that love to his readers.

Themes in William Butler Yeats Poetry

William Butler Yeats was a prolific writer, penning both plays and numerous poems. His poems encompass many themes, but none more enduring than his love for his homeland of Ireland, and to understand Yeats love of his home country, one must understand Ireland as well. Ireland is a beautiful, wild, untamed country, and it was even more so when Yeats was writing. The population is fiercely independent, and they did not enjoy their subjugation to Great Britain, which is one of the topics Yeats hints at in his poetry. In Yeats' time, the Irish population was still largely engaged in agriculture, and so they lived simple lives in the country, far removed from the worries of the cities. Yeats wanted people to understand his Ireland, and to give the Irish people a voice they could understand and love. He succeeded on all counts.

William Butler Yeats was born in Dublin, Ireland in 1865, and spent much of his summer vacations in the west of Ireland in County Sligo with relatives. Much of Yeats poetry is set in western Ireland, such as "At Galway Races" and "Red Hanrahan's Song about Ireland." Much of Yeats early poetry concerns the mythology and folk tales of Ireland, which fascinated the young man. Early in his writing career, "Yeats and his friends established the Irish Literary Society, whose members had as their object the appreciation and critical study of Gaelic literature" (Gallagher et al. 11). Yeats wrote about love, politics, and the natural world during his lifetime, but he always returned to the enduring theme of Ireland in his works, which illustrated the great love he felt for his home - its' people and its beauty.

Many of Yeats early poems were based on things he saw and heard during his summers in Sligo. The theme of Ireland is strong in these works, such as "Down at the Salley Gardens," which Yeats said he wrote after hearing a folk song sung by an old woman in the area of Ballisodare (Gallagher et al. 23). "Salley Gardens" is a short poem that tells the story of two young lovers, but it also evokes the romantic folk music of Ireland in its gentle words. "Down the salley gardens my love and I did meet; / She passed the salley gardens with little snow-white feet. / She bid me take love easy, as the leaves grow on the tree; / But I, being young and foolish, with her would not agree" (Yeats). It seems "sally gardens" were quite common along the riverbanks of Ireland in Yeats time, and so, the poem is not only the story of two young lovers, it is the story of gardens with "sally rods" used for making baskets by the Irish. Thus, the poem is an enduring look at an Ireland that no longer exists, and many of Yeats poems are still revered today because of their timeless quality and the homage they pay to Irish customs and history.

Yeats love of the natural world is also quite evident in his poetry, as another very early poem "The Falling of the Leaves" clearly illustrates. "Autumn is over the long leaves that love us, / And over the mice in the barley sheaves; / Yellow the leaves of the rowan above us, / And yellow the wet wild-strawberry leaves" (Yeats). Here, he paints a vivid portrait of the Irish landscape in autumn that evokes the smell of damp leaves on the forest floor, and the musky smell of wood fires burning piles of leaves. Or "Red Hanrahan's Song about Ireland," which celebrates western Ireland's beauty. "The yellow pool has overflowed high up on Clooth-na-Bare, / For the wet winds are blowing out of the clinging air" (Yeats). However, as his poetry matured, so did his images of Ireland, such as in a later work, "No Second Troy," which celebrates the noble beauty of Ireland, but laments the troubles the Irish people are facing under English rule. "That nobleness made simple as a fire, / With beauty like a tightened bow, a kind / That is not natural in an age like this" (Yeats). As Yeats grew older, he became more concerned with the political problems facing Ireland, but if anything, they simply added to his love for his home, and added to the imagery he used in his poetry to introduce his readers to the Emerald Isle.

Another later poem, "At Galway Races," illustrates how Yeats work was evolving, but the theme of Ireland was still the most lasting message in his works. "Sing on: somewhere at some new moon, / We'll learn that sleeping is not death, / Hearing the whole earth change its tune, / Its flesh being wild, and it again / Crying aloud as the racecourse is, / And we find hearteners among men / That ride upon horses" (Yeats). Yeats is not only celebrating horse racing, which is the national sport of Ireland, it is celebrating the endurance of Ireland during its troubles with Great Britain, and celebrating the strong backbone of the Irish, who are men "that ride upon horses." Yeats work literally breathes Ireland in every line, and there is no doubt that Yeats loved this unique land, and wanted to share that love with people the world over.

Another early poem, "The Two Trees" illustrates how even the most simple of Yeats poems has Ireland in their heart and soul. "the surety of its hidden root / has planted quiet in the night; / The shaking of its leafy head / Has given the waves their melody" (Yeats). Clearly, the strength of the "hidden root" is the strength of Ireland and its people, who have survived hardship after hardship to become stronger and more enduring.

Yeats used imagery of the natural world to help flesh out the themes of Ireland in his works, but he also used images of love, symbolism, and diction to show his feelings. In "When You Are Old," he seems to be talking to a lover, but he could just as well be talking to Ireland. "How many loved your moments of glad grace, / And loved your beauty with love false or true, / But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you, / And loved the sorrows of your changing face" (Yeats). Yeats was never afraid to show his soul in his poetry, as this poem clearly illustrates. These are words of deep love, and they acknowledge the pivotal point Ireland played in his work, which is why it is the theme of so much of his poetry. His poetry could have become sappy and sentimental if he had let it, but instead, it is strong and beautiful, just like the country he admired so much.