William Butler Yeats - A Study In Context
... up with another gyre/circle word “reel”, creating the sense that the gyre is spinning on and on. This used in conjunction with the phrase “twenty centuries of stony sleep” is a direct reference to the gyres concept. The twenty centuries is referring to the two thousand year cycle of the gyre. This interpretation is from around the time the poem was written. A more modern interpretation focuses on the poem’s theme of good verses evil. This view is related to the gyres concept, but is a little more specific. Religious references and imagery are used to support this view. “Ceremony of innocence is drowned, the best lack all conviction while the worst are full of passionate intensity”. The ceremony of innocence is a reference to the Christian custom of baptism. The ceremony is drowned, a paradox to the divine promise that never again shall the earth be sanctified by flood. Not only was the ceremony of innocence drowned, but it was drowned in a “blood dimmed tide”. The ceremony of innocence is a symbol for the forced of good, whilest the “blood dimmed tide” is a representation of the forces of evil. There is a direct comparison between the two forces in the following lines. “The best (good) lack all conviction while the worst (bad) are full of passionate intensity”. This direct contrast shows how the two opposing forces have been pitted against each other by Yeats in this poem. The poem also concludes with another comparison of good and evil. “And what rough beast, its hour come at last, slouched towards Bethlehem to be born?” The “rough beast” is used by Yeats to represent the forces of evil, whilest the city of Bethlehem, which is the birthplace of Christ is used as a symbol for the forces of good. The line creates the image of an evil beast slouching towards a stronghold of the forces of the good, creating the sense of impending confrontation. These two different interpretations are examples of context when it comes to the interpretation of a text. The first interpretation was made roughly seventy years ago, but as the time has passed, this second interpretation has emerged. Whilest both are similar, they still deal with two different themes. Yeats’ poem Easter 1916 is much more straightforward than The Second Coming, not allowing too much room for interpretation, but still a few variations have emerged over time. The most common of these is the post colonial interpretation. In this interpretation, the themes that Yeats explores are Irish Nationalism, patriotism and martyrdom. One of the prominent techniques Yeats uses to explore Irish nationalism is the use of colour symbolism. In the first stanza of the poem, Yeats’ description of the people prior to the uprising paints a picture of bland and uninterested people, dressed in motley. “Being sure that they and I, but lived where motley is worn”. Motley implies that the clothes the people were wearing were all different, having nothing in common with the next person. Yeats uses this to show how the Irish society was fragmented at the time, with no sense of unity, abiding by the law of everyone for themselves. Yeats contrasts this at the conclusion of his poem, in the final stanza where he describes the people as now being dressed in green, the national colour of Ireland. “Now and in time to be, wherever green is worn”. Yeats uses the colour green, being worn by the country as a whole, to give the sense of unity, and to show how the people have come together for the common cause. Because green is the national colour, it also suggests a sense of pride in their country – Irish nationalism. Because the poem is written in the first person, the way the poet (Yeats) feels about the people of Ireland is a technique used to show Irish nationalism. In the first stanza, Yeats stresses the term “polite and meaningless words” when he describes his conversations with the people. This suggests that he didn’t consider the pe...