William Butler Yeats

The central themes in Yeats' "The Ballad of Father Gilligan" include divine intervention and the mercy of God. The poem highlights how Father Gilligan, overwhelmed and exhausted, falls asleep when he...

In Yeats' poem "Words" from The Green Helmet and Other Poems, he laments his beloved's inability to comprehend his poetry, which he sees as an act of protectionism and revolution for the Irish cause....

The generated response is correct when it identifies five of William Butler Yeats’ contributions to modern poetry: innovation in symbolism and allusion, the subconscious, individualism,...

Father Peter Gilligan, from "The Ballad of Father Gilligan," is depicted as an elderly and weary parish priest, working tirelessly in the Irish countryside despite his advancing age. His commitment...

"The Ballad of Father Gilligan" by W.B. Yeats portrays the themes of divine intervention and human frailty. Father Gilligan, exhausted and despairing, falls asleep while praying for a dying...

Yeats's "On a Political Prisoner" relates to Irish Nationalism by reflecting his disillusionment with the political direction of the movement. The poem criticizes the transformation of Maud Gonne, a...

William Butler Yeats's "The Stolen Child" is a poem that combines Irish mythology, mystery and romanticism as it pertains to childhood, and in juxtaposition with the modern world. This being said,...

W. B. Yeats is considered a Modernist poet due to his innovative use of symbolism, exploration of complex themes like the disintegration of society, and his blending of myth and history with...

Yeats's poem "The Stolen Child" features a lyrical structure with a refrain that emphasizes the enchanting yet foreboding call of the fairies. The style employs rich, evocative imagery and a...

In "Meru," William Butler Yeats uses the sonnet structure to comment on the cyclical nature of civilization and to contrast those who cannot help destroying their own existence with the hermits who...

In "He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven," Yeats presents a speaker who is both imaginative and appreciative of beauty. The poem begins with the speaker's rich, Romantic descriptions of the heavens and...

Yeats' The Land of Heart's Desire explores the tension between ancient Irish mythology and the Catholic Church. Through Mary's fascination with faeries, Yeats illustrates the enduring power of...

W. B. Yeats's work is characterized by its symbolic and mystical elements, reflecting his interest in Irish mythology and the occult. His techniques include the use of vivid imagery, complex...

Yeats uses myths in "Sailing to Byzantium" through allusions such as the sages and the singing golden bird, evoking mythological concepts like Tiresias. In "Byzantium," Yeats's references become more...

There are several literary devices employed in Yeats's poem, but one theme that he often employs is that of the journey of life. This journey is presented in spiral imagery that explores the human...

"Leda and the Swan" depicts an ancient Greek myth in which Zeus, appearing as a swan, rapes the wife of King Tyndareus. In "The Wild Swans at Coole" on the other hand, the speaker is reflecting that...

William Butler Yeats' poetry exhibits Romantic elements through its focus on nature, individual emotion, and the supernatural. His works often emphasize the beauty and mystery of the natural world,...

In Yeats's poem "The Ballad of Father Gilligan," "moth-hour" symbolizes the transition between day and night, representing a time of spiritual reflection and divine intervention. This period...

Yeats published "Down By The Salley Gardens," a poem based on an Irish folk song, in a collection called Crossways in 1890.  Although some readers have tried to locate the "Salley"...

W. B. Yeats's "The Mask" explores themes of appearance versus reality and the facades people present in relationships. The poem is a dialogue between two speakers, with one hiding behind a mask and...

If you want to know what this line means, you just have to look in the poem to see what comes before it.  You have to look before the line you cite to see what it is referring to. In this...

Father Gilligan's weariness and depression stem from his constant work and exhaustion. He is overwhelmed by the demands of his parishioners, who are dying in large numbers, and he feels physically...

Although in British English the word "sods" can be an obscenity, it also has a "decent" meaning.  Sod in that context is an area of grass that also includes the dirt beneath it that is held...

In the Bible, there is a verse that says something about the spirit being willing, but the flesh being weak.  This is what Father Gilligan is saying in this line.  He is saying that his...

William Butler Yeats, a much read and loved Irish poet even today, is considered by many as one of the finest poets of the 20th century. His contributions to English poetical traditions are many,...

The "old pensioner" has been changed by the passage of time. He may no longer be actively involved in "every company that talked of love or politics"; he no longer joins in the fights with weapons...

To my understanding, the many people who are dying in the village described in "The Ballad of Father Gilligan" are victims of the Great Potato Famine, or, at least, the lingering effects of that...

"The Green Helmet" by William Butler Yeats is not a play, but a collection of poetry. It was written after his collection "In the Seven Woods", and is a continuation of that style. The poems are,...

Put simply, "The Gyres" is about an old man on the verge of death, as he reflects on his existence and the destruction of civilization around him. However, the poem is a bit more complicated than...

One poem in which the Anglo-Irish poet W.B. Yeats uses mythology (in this case the old myths of Ireland) is the beautiful 'Song of Wandering Aengus.' Aengus was a god-like being who became...

The following link summarizes it best.  However, in short, it is about an old man who waits for the waters to flow freely in a well that offers water that gives immortality to those who drink...

Additionally, it is the poet's depiction of love as a game that is especially salient here. When he tells us never to give all our heart, he is saying that we must keep some part of ourselves...

William Butler Yeats is obsessed with aesthetics, aristocracy and, particularly in later work, the life of the spirit. His eccentric political views spring from these concerns. W. H. Auden also has a...

"I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree." Nature plays an important role in much of the Irish poet William Butler Yeats's work, particularly that of his home country. "The Lake Isle of...

Literary devices that Yeats uses in "The Cat and the Moon" include personification, apostrophe, simile, alliteration, and assonance.

Father Gilligan grieves at the beginning of the poem because he is old, tired, and overworked.  He has, it seems, had a long and tiring day.  But instead of being able to relax, he gets...

In this poem, the main character, Father Peter Gilligan, asks God to forgive him because he has spoken words that are unworthy of a priest. When Father Gilligan heard that someone else needed his...

Right after he wakes up, he doesn't really find out much of anything.  He gets very upset and worried because the man must have died while he was asleep (so I guess he has realized that it is...

Yeats's play, The Pot of Broth, (which he wrote was composed with the help of Lady Gregory) is a retelling of the old European folk tale often known as "stone soup." There are also Chinese and...

This poem is about devotion to Christ and the sacrifices that believers are willing to make, even at the point of death.

All poetry essentially uses symbols to encapsulate and condense universal truths into a concise observation.  The entire Jungian approach to psychology/anthropology is based on a universal...

I would say that "Easter, 1916," "Leda and the Swan," and "The Second Coming" are the three best poems to compare with each other, although the others could potentially be used as well. A theme of...

Yeats is one of my favorite poets! Does your assignment allow you to choose any poems? I am assuming you have to tailor your thesis statement to discuss these three works. I think you could...

In this poem before the stanzas you cite, Father Gilligan has been called to the bedside of a man who is dying. But the priest is very tired.  He kneels to pray and falls asleep right there on...

In his poem “Broken Dreams,” W. B. Yeats deals with such standard poetic topics as desire, change, memories, the afterlife, the passing of time, and a woman’s beauty. Yet of course, like all...

One of the connections that exists between the real world and the world of the fairies in Yeats's "Stolen Child" is the pain and suffering that makes leaving it quite inviting. The real world and...

In articulating the essence of Modern features in consciousness, Virginia Woolf speaks of a shift in thinking.  Woolf argues that this construction is the essence of Modern thought:  "All...

Yeats is characterized as a poet deeply connected to both Irish nationalism and mysticism. His work often reflects the political turmoil and cultural renaissance of his era, blending personal themes...

We live life and are told it's a grand, mysterious adventure. But what if it really is just a tale told by an idiot that actually means nothing at all? It is what it is and then it's gone. What if...

William Butler Yeats' "The Cradle Song," is a lovely poem, written with a rhyme scheme of ABABCDCDEFEF, in a total of twelve lines. (Every other line rhymes: so A represents one sound and that...