Yeats
Poetry is an art form that encourages subjective responses from the reader and as such
William Butler Yeats’ poetry has inspired varying interpretations over time. This essay
argues that through an exploration of the tensions between age and youth, immortality
and mortality as well as love and loss, Yeats’ poetry continues to be valued in a variety of
contexts. Tensions are defined as being conflicting ideas, binary opposites. These
tensions are evident throughout Yeats’ poetry specifically “When You are Old” and “The
Wild Swans at Coole”.(EXCELLENT!!)
Critic John Turner suggests that the poem ‘When You Are Old’ is an attack on women as
“the addressee in this poem is objectified becoming both subject and muse”. This is
supported in Yeats’ description of the female subjecting lamenting the ‘soft look’ and
‘glad grace’ that she once had in her youth. However, there is also clear evidence to
support the idea that this poem explores the tension between old age and youth. The title
of the poem itself introduces the theme of age using the word “old”. Also Yeats uses
positive and negative connotations to establish this point of maturity in the subject’s life.
“Nodding by the fire” connotates an old person who is slowly falling asleep by a fire
place. This is then contrasted to Yeats’ use of future tense “when you are old”. This
communicates the idea that the subject is in their youthful years and the persona is
predicting the impact of old age on the subject. Thus supporting the interpretation that the
poem depicts the tension between old age and youth.
This tension between old age and youth is also evident in “The Wild Swans at Coole”.
This is achieved through Yeats’ use of metaphor in the line “the trees are in their autumn
beauty”. This establishes the subject of the poem to be in a mature stage of their life due
to the connotations of the word ‘autumn’ meaning the end of a cycle, thus the end of life.
This is contrasted to the use of reflection in the line “All’s changed since I hearing at
twighlight the first time on this shore”. This reflects on the subject’s youthful years, as
when he was younger he could attract females and be intimate with them however now
he has lost that attraction and abilities. This thus clearly identifies the tension between old
age and youth. The line “The woodland paths are dry” has been read as being a metaphor
for the persona’s sexual frustration. This is also evident when looking into Yeats’
personal context whereby at the time of writing the poem he was mature in age and
believed he could no longer be loved by other women due to his sexual impotence. This
particular interpretation introduces the tension between love and loss.
The poem ‘When You Are Old’ conveys the tension between love and loss. This poem
was written when Yeats was in his 20s and had recently been rejected by his long-time
love, Maud Gonne. The emotive language in the poem, specifically in the line “but one
man loved the pilgrim soul in you”, reveals Yeats’ heartache over Maud’s inability to
recognize the depth of his love and the tension this caused within him. Another example
of this is drawn from the use of past tense in the line “how many loved your moments of
glad grace”. This is a realization that there once was love felt for this persona but now
that love is lost as the weight of time has caused a change of heart. This thus satisfies
evidence for the tension between love and loss.
The tension between love and loss is also evident in “The Wild Swans at Coole”. This is
established through the use of metonymy in the line, “And now my heart is sore”. The
heart of the persona is not literally sore but the experience of losing love has left him
unhappy, as though he is broken inside. He has become a victim of love so proving this
poem thus further explores the tension between love and loss. Also this sense of love and
loss is further explored through use of an oxymoron in the line “Unwearied lover by
lover, they paddle in the cold companionable streams”. The ‘companionable’ represents
warmth created by lovers compared to the ‘cold’ that heart break has left the persona,
Yeats, in.
Critic Richard Ellman also foregrounds the tensions in these poems in his argument that
“Yeats’ poems take one of two directions….visionary, concerned with matters of
prophecy…or with their own secret hopes and ambitions”. The tension revealed in his
argument is the tension between mortality and immortality. This final tension is the most
important for Yeats because it enables him to express his beliefs in the occult and the
supernatural. This tension is evident in ‘When You Are Old’ through the use of
metaphor. For example the persona of the poem, presumably Maud Gonne, is described
to be “nodding by the fire”, this brings to attention the literal meaning of these words but
also a second meaning whereby she is falling asleep with the weight of time on her
shoulders bringing her down. This is then contrasted to Yeats who “hid his face amid a
crowd of stars”. Here Yeats describes how he has become part of the immortal group of
artists whose name will live on forever, a reflection of his Neoplatonist belief that the
creation of art can secure the artist immortality. The displaying of Maud Gonne aging in a
human, mortal, manner whilst Yeats becomes an immortal being, satisfies the exploration
of the tension between mortality and immortality.
“The Wild Swans at Coole” reveals the persona to be envying the immortality of the
swan species as it is recognised that they will remain longer then he will. Yeats uses
metaphors to emphasise this evident in the line “their hearts have not grown old”. This
line of the poem impresses the immortal nature of these swans as they are still young at
heart and suggests that the persona watching is envious of these swans. This is
emphasised through the use of alliteration “The bell beat of their wings above my head”.
This line can be viewed as religious imagery, with the sounds of bells signifying the
ascension of a soul to heaven which is significant in becoming immortal. This image of
the swans ascending to the spiritual realm whilst Yeats is staying on earth in a mortal
world explores the tension between mortality and immortality. Also this is made evident
in the regret felt by Yeats drawn from the last line of the poem “To find they have flown
away”. Here it is saying that the swans will fly away to entertain another man with their
beauty whilst Yeats remains to pass away being mortal and the swans immortal.
Close analysis of Yeats’ poems “When You Are Old” and “The Wild Swans at Coole”,
has given ample evidence to lead us to acknowledge how these poems explore different
tensions. These tensions each stem from an understanding of Yeats’ context primarily his
rejection by Maud Gonne and his quest for immortality. In conclusion, Yeats has
achieved immortality as his poems are still valued and studied showing that these
tensions are still valued today in this modern society.
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