The Man and The Echo
By William Butler Yeats
Read these extracts from the Poem
….All that I have said and done
Now that I am old and ill
….until I would lie down and die.
Echo: Lie down and die.
What is
an Echo?
Write down a
definition
How do we use the term “Echo”
metaphorically?
E.G.
• That painting has echoes of Picasso.
• These spending cuts have echoes of the 1980’s
• This idea is echoed later on in the poem.
Look back at the extracts…
….until I would lie down and die.
Echo: Lie down and die.
How can the echo be said to have changed the
meaning of the phrase repeated?
Merely repeating a phrase, given even a small
change of context, can really affect its meaning.
How can our words be misinterpreted?
Look at these words from a Head Teacher
new to a school, speaking to her staff:
“I am delighted to be here to work
with you all in a school which clearly
has a huge potential to be outstanding.
I intend to make sure that all our pupils
are provided with the best
opportunities possible so that they
may leave us as successful and happy
individuals. We have some fine
teachers in this school and I wish to
make sure that all your skills are used
to maximum effect”
Now look at how one teacher interpreted
them:
“I am delighted to be here to work
with you all in a school which is
clearly under-achieving. I intend to
make sure that we actually have
some success stories amongst our
pupils. We have some fine teachers
in this school and some not so fine
teachers. I wish to make sure that you
all work a lot harder.”
Read the Poem and try to work out the main ideas…
Some notes to help you:
• The word ‘Alt’ is a rocky fissure at Knocknarea, County Sligo
• ‘that play’ refers to ‘Cathleen ni Houlihan’ (1902), a one act
play by Yeats in which a woman, personifying Ireland,
incites a young bridegroom to armed rebellion and death.
• The phrase ‘certain men the English shot’ refers to the
leaders of the Easter Rising; Yeats is wondering if he incited
them to rebellion through the words of his play.
• ‘that woman’s reeling brain’ refers to the actress, poet and
singers Margot Ruddock; Yeats had an affair with her and
also edited her poems for publication.