“All changed, changed utterly”
Discuss ways in which the significance of change is explored in “Easter 1916”.
In your answer, explore the effects of language, imagery and verse form, and consider how this
poem relates to other poems by W.B. Yeats.
In “Easter 1916” Yeats reflects on the changes to Ireland which culminated in the Easter Rising of
1916. The theme of change is one that dominates much of Yeats’ poetry. Whilst his poetic style
underwent change itself, moving from his mystical and lyrical Celtic Twilight poems, to his later
starker, modernist poetry, the idea of change pervades his writing in many ways. Yeats was an
introspective man who spent a great deal of time reflecting on his past, in for example, “Broken
Dreams” and a great deal of time worrying about old age, in for example “Sailing to Byzantium”.
However, in “Easter 1916”, Yeats focuses on Ireland, the country he loves and in doing so, achieves a
poem that is far less self-absorbed than many of his poems that followed.
Although Yeats begins the poem in the first person, “I have met them at close of day”, the majority
of the poem is written in third person, where the speaker is an observer of the lives of the Dublin
folk. With contextual knowledge of Yeats’ pre-occupation with political Ireland at the time, it seems
clear that the speaker is Yeats himself. Stanza one details the day to day passage of time and how
workers leave buildings “at the close of day” and sometimes, he would “linger a while” and
“exchange meaningless words”. There is a sense that these small moments are lost in their
normality, yet are actually part of a much greater sense of time: the new face of Ireland that is
emerging following various changes in this new century.
There is a shift in tone in the last two lines of stanza one, where the (later repeated) “All changed,
changed utterly: / A terrible beauty is born.” sums up Yeats’ main idea in the poem. The oxymoron
makes clear the conflict he recognises in events that have such hope attached to them, in terms of
what many have sacrificed for their country but at the same time a real sense of loss where Yeats
appears to question their sacrifice. Yeats does not applaud the changes that he refers to in this
poem and there is a strong tone of regret throughout. In particular, he regrets the changes
experienced by the men and women who dedicated their lives to revolution and who in many cases,
lost their lives as a result. This is perhaps best conveyed through Yeats’ symbolic reference to a
“stone”. At first he links it with the idea of a momentary change; the effect that a stone can have if
thrown into water: “Enchanted to a stone / To trouble the living stream.” By then applying the term
to the revolutionaries: “Too long a sacrifice / Can make a stone of the heart.”, the stone becomes a
symbol not only of the change that they are capable of bringing about but also perhaps a symbol of
their immovability in their desire for revolution.
This focus on the effect of change on others can also be seen in September 1913, where Yeats shows
his resentment of greedy materialistic employers who “fumble in a greasy till” and “have dried the
marrow from the bone”. This metaphor reflects the change in Ireland that has resulted from such
mercenary behaviour. The paradox created through “pray” and “save” and “prayer” and “shivering”
highlights Yeats’ belief that such men hide behind religion. The result is a change in Ireland that
Yeats regrets. “Romantic Ireland’s dead and gone. It’s with O’Leary in the grave.” John O’Leary, an
old Fenian, emerges as the antithesis of the greedy, sordid, grasping Dublin merchants. O’Leary is a
symbol of integrity, idealism and vision, much like the revolutionaries of “Easter 1916”.
Similarly the imagined ideal Irishman in “The Fisherman”, symbolises all that Yeats believes to have
been lost with the changes to Ireland. This “wise and simple man” contrasts with “this man” and
“this other” in “Easter 1916”. Whereas the fisherman is placed “on a hill” and in “grey Connemara
clothes”, the characters of “Easter 1916” are placed “amongst eighteenth century houses” and
concerned with ideals and campaigns and finally become “The dead men I loved”. However, like
“Easter 1916”, “The Fisherman conveys Yeats’ regret at the changing face of Ireland.
Yeats’ poetry often has a stream of consciousness feel about it, for example in “Amongst School
Children”, he drifts from one philosophical debate to another, with the one continuing thread being
the passing of time and how even the great philosophers like Plato and Aristotle cannot halt the
changes that occur as one ages and time moves forward. However, in “Easter 1916”, his thoughts
are structured in a more logical and rational manner. The poem is divided into four stanzas and like
most of his poetry moves from the general to the specific, from his disconnection to his grudging
admiration and respect. The poem moves between iambic tetrameter and iambic trimester, the
combination of the two perhaps emphasising the constant shift in peoples’ lives as time moves
forward, “Changes minute by minute”. The regular ABAB rhyme scheme allows the refrain “All
Changed…” to stand out in its distinct lack of rhyme.
Like “Amongst School Children”, many of Yeats’ poems deal the changes that Yeats himself feels as a
result of growing older. For example, in “Wild Swans at Coole”, he is in the “autumn” of his years
and now his “heart is sore”, whilst in contrast, the swans – a symbol of youth and vitality – are active
and vital, seen through the active verbs applied to them: “paddle”, “climb” and “scatter”. In such
poems there is a strong sense of personal regret. “Easter 1916” on the other hand, maintains as its
focus, the loss and sorrow that change has brought about to his fellow Irishman. Whilst he regrets
the change himself, the poem is far less pre-occupied with his own pain than many of his other
poems that deal with the theme of change. As such, “Easter 1916” can almost be read as a eulogy
for Old Ireland and its brave revolutionaries.