English IV
William Butler Yeats
Journal
• Recall a major transition in your own life,
especially one that you dreaded or resisted.
Write a few sentences describing this
transition and the emotions which the
transition triggered in you.
William Butler Yeats
1865 - 1939
1. Born in Dublin, Ireland - son of a well known
portrait painter.
2. Generally regarded as 20th century’s greatest
poet in English language
William Butler Yeats
1865 - 1939
1. Arrived on literary scene during revival of Art
Nouveau
2. Emphasized mysterious & unfathomable especially in subconscious mind (just then
being explored by Sigmund Freud and Carl
Jung)
William Butler Yeats
1865 - 1939
1. While he was in his 20s, Ireland’s dominance
was transferring from English Protestantism
to Irish Roman Catholicism.
2. Had a profound effect on his poetry, and his
subsequent explorations of Irish identity had
a significant influence on the creation of his
country's biography.
William Butler Yeats
1865 - 1939
1. Yeats' early poetry drew heavily on Irish myth
and folklore
2. Modernists read the well-known poem "The
Second Coming" as a dirge for the decline of
European civilization
3. His 1920 poem, "The Second Coming"
contains some of literature's most potent
images of the twentieth century.
Background
• In Christianity, the Second Coming refers to
the belief that Jesus will one day return to
earth and usher in an era of peace and justice.
Background
1. Yeats’ “The Second Coming” alludes not only
to the Christian conception of the universe but to Yeats’ own view of human history
being a cycle (gyre).
2. Each cycle begins in a rational state, and then
gradually dissolves into chaos & irrationality.
Alludes (allusion)
• Makes reference to something well known in
literature, religion, politics, history, etc...
Ex. - In “The Second Coming,” Yeats alludes to
the prophecy of the return of Christ.
dirge
• A funeral song commemorating the dead
• Ex. - Modernists read the well-known poem
"The Second Coming" as a dirge for the
decline of European civilization
Assignment
1.
2.
3.
4.
Partner Read “The Second Coming” P. 946
Answer P. 946 # 1 - 8
Writing - P. 947 - Write 1 paragraph response
Write 2 things you learned, plus 1 that makes
you wonder.