This blog is written as a task assigned by the head of the Department of English (MKBU), Prof. and Dr. Dilip Barad Sir. Here is the link to the professor's research article for background reading: Click here.
Here is the link to the professor's blog for background reading:Click here .
Introduction:
.jpg)
William Butler Yeats (1865–1939) was one of the greatest poets of the twentieth century and a leading voice of modernism. Born in Dublin into an Anglo-Irish family, he was shaped by both the artistic circles of London and the mythic landscapes of County Sligo, which inspired his lifelong interest in Irish folklore, mysticism, and symbolism. A key figure in the Irish Literary Revival, Yeats co-founded the Abbey Theatre and used literature to promote a distinct Irish cultural identity.
Over his long career, Yeats’s poetry evolved from romantic and symbolist beginnings to a powerful modernist style that confronted political upheaval, spiritual conflict, and the realities of aging. Deeply engaged with Ireland’s struggle for independence and later serving as a Senator of the Irish Free State, he combined personal vision with national history. Awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1923, Yeats remains a poet whose work captures both the soul of Ireland and the anxieties of the modern world.
Q | 1. Watch Hindi podcast on both poems and write brief note on your understanding of this podcast.
After watching the Hindi podcast on W. B. Yeats’s poems “On Being Asked for a War Poem” and “The Second Coming,” my understanding of Yeats as a poet of crisis has deepened significantly. The podcast does not treat these poems as isolated literary works but connects them to historical, political, and personal realities, which makes Yeats’s poetry more meaningful and relevant.
Firstly, the discussion of “On Being Asked for a War Poem” highlights the idea that silence itself can be political. During World War I, writers were expected to support the war through patriotic literature. Yeats’s refusal to do so shows his discomfort with using poetry as propaganda. The podcast clearly explains that Yeats believed poetry should not blindly serve political power. As an Irish nationalist, writing a war poem for the British cause would have meant supporting an empire that controlled and oppressed Ireland. Therefore, his silence was not cowardice but a moral and ideological choice.
The podcast also emphasizes the irony of Yeats expressing silence through a poem. This shows his modernist thinking—he uses art to question the very role of art in times of war. As a student, I found this idea very relevant today, because even now artists, celebrities, and writers are constantly pressured to speak on political and social issues. Yeats’s response teaches us that thoughtful restraint can sometimes be more honest than forced opinions.
Secondly, the analysis of “The Second Coming” presents Yeats as a poet who captures the fear and instability of the modern world. The famous lines “Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold” describe a society where traditional values, beliefs, and institutions are collapsing. The podcast explains how World War I, political revolutions, and violence contributed to this feeling of chaos.
What makes the podcast especially insightful is its focus on the Spanish Flu pandemic as a key background to the poem. I learned that Yeats was personally affected by the pandemic when his pregnant wife nearly died. This personal fear adds a new emotional depth to the poem. The violent imagery of blood, drowning, and darkness can be read as reflections of the physical suffering caused by the disease, not just symbolic political disorder. The “rough beast” then becomes a symbol of an unknown, uncontrollable force, much like a virus.
The podcast also explains Yeats’s idea of history as a cycle, where one era ends violently and another begins. This philosophy helps us understand why the poem feels so hopeless and frightening. There is no promise of salvation, only the birth of a new and dangerous age.
In conclusion, the Hindi podcast helped me understand that Yeats’s poetry combines politics, personal experience, philosophy, and modern anxiety. “On Being Asked for a War Poem” shows the power of silence as resistance, while “The Second Coming” expresses a loud, terrifying vision of a world collapsing on all levels—social, political, and biological. As a student, I feel that these poems remain relevant today because we still live in a world facing wars, pandemics, and uncertainty. Yeats’s work reminds us that poetry is not just decoration but a serious response to human crisis.
From Metaphor to Clinical Reality:
With this personal trauma in mind, the poem’s famous lines acquire a new and more horrifying clinical reality. The abstract metaphors for political chaos become visceral descriptions of a disease’s brutal symptoms.
Poetic Line | Traditional Interpretation (Political) | Pandemic Interpretation (Clinical) |
"The blood-dimmed tide is loosed" | A metaphor for the bloodshed and violence of war and revolution. | A literal description of a key Spanish Flu symptom: severe hemorrhaging from the nose and mouth as lungs filled with blood, causing patients to drown in it. |
"The ceremony of innocence is drowned" | The abstract concept of innocence or goodness being destroyed by anarchy. | A chilling depiction of patients specifically the "innocence" of an unborn child and mother literally drowning as their lungs filled with fluid. |
"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold" | The collapse of political empires and social order. | The complete breakdown of the social fabric due to the pandemic: schools, theaters, and businesses closed, hospitals overwhelmed, and no one left to bury the dead. |
Q | 2. Watch two videos on the poems (online class) and write brief analysis of both the poems.
Video :1 | The Second Coming
The Second Coming by W. B. Yeats:
After watching the online video lecture on “The Second Coming,” I understood that the poem expresses Yeats’s fear about the complete collapse of the modern world. The lecture explains that the poem was written in 1919, just after World War I, when violence, political instability, and social disorder had destroyed people’s faith in traditional values and institutions.
The video begins by explaining the famous opening image of the falcon and the widening gyre. This image suggests that human beings have lost control and direction, and the “centre” that once held society together can no longer function. The line “Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold” reflects the breakdown of order, authority, and moral values.
The lecture also explains how Yeats reverses the Christian idea of the Second Coming. Instead of Christ returning as a savior, Yeats imagines a terrifying “rough beast” moving towards Bethlehem. This shows that the new age being born will not bring peace or hope, but violence and destruction. The beast represents a future that is cruel, emotionless, and inhuman.
A very important point discussed in the video is the connection between the poem and the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic. The lecture explains that Yeats wrote the poem when his pregnant wife was seriously ill, and this personal fear influenced the poem’s dark and violent imagery. Lines such as “the blood-dimmed tide” and “the ceremony of innocence is drowned” can be understood as descriptions of physical suffering and death caused by disease, not only as symbols of war. Through this interpretation, the “rough beast” can also be seen as an invisible biological threat.
Overall, the video helped me understand that “The Second Coming” is not only a political poem but also a deeply personal and apocalyptic vision. It reflects Yeats’s anxiety about war, disease, and the frightening uncertainty of the modern world, which makes the poem still relevant today.
Video :2 | On Being Asked for a War Poem
Video Lecture on ' On Being Asked for a War Poem by W.B.Yeats on YouTube / DoE-MKBU : Click here
On Being Asked for a War Poem by W. B. Yeats:
After watching the video lecture on “On Being Asked for a War Poem,” I understood that this short poem is a powerful example of how silence itself can be political. The poem was written in 1915 during World War I, when Yeats was asked to write a patriotic poem to support the war effort.
The lecture explains that Yeats refused this request and expressed his refusal through a poem. His statement, “I think it better that in times like these / A poet’s mouth be silent,” suggests that poets do not have the power to correct the decisions of politicians. According to Yeats, poetry cannot guide statesmen during war, as political power dominates over artistic truth.
One of the most important points in the video is the irony of the poem. Although Yeats argues that poets should remain silent, he makes this argument by writing and publishing a poem. This irony turns his refusal into a public protest. The lecture calls this a clever and deliberate artistic strategy.
The video also highlights Yeats’s identity as an Irish nationalist. At the time, Ireland was under British rule, and Yeats did not want to support the British war effort. Writing a patriotic war poem would have meant supporting an empire that oppressed his own country. Therefore, his silence becomes an act of resistance rather than indifference.
The lecture concludes by explaining that this poem raises an important question about the role of art in times of conflict. Yeats shows that poetry’s role is not to serve political propaganda but to protect artistic integrity and human truth.
In conclusion, the video helped me understand that “On Being Asked for a War Poem” is not a simple refusal but a deeply political and ironic statement. It shows Yeats’s belief that sometimes refusing to speak is the strongest form of protest.
Q | 3. Refer to the study material - researchgate: Reply in the blog to the (i) Discussion question, (ii) Creativity activity and (iii) Analytical exercise
1) Discussion question :
A) How does Yeats use imagery to convey a sense of disintegration in 'The Second Coming' ?
W. B. Yeats uses striking and often disturbing imagery in “The Second Coming” to portray a civilization on the verge of collapse. The poem begins with the haunting image of “Turning and turning in the widening gyre,” which immediately conveys a sense of uncontrolled motion. This image suggests that history and human society are no longer guided by stable principles; instead, they spiral outward into chaos. The falcon drifting beyond the falconer’s call symbolizes humanity’s loss of connection with moral authority, tradition, and spiritual direction.
As the poem progresses, Yeats intensifies the atmosphere of breakdown through violent and apocalyptic images. The declaration “Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold” captures the essence of modern disillusionment, reflecting a world fractured by war, political unrest, and moral confusion. The “blood-dimmed tide” and the drowning of “the ceremony of innocence” vividly suggest that violence has overwhelmed both human compassion and ethical values. Innocence, once protected, is now helpless in the face of brutality.
The most powerful image appears at the end of the poem in the form of the “rough beast” slouching toward Bethlehem. This grotesque figure replaces the hopeful image of Christ’s return with a vision of terror and spiritual emptiness. Through this nightmarish imagery, Yeats expresses his fear that a new age is being born one defined not by redemption, but by destruction. In this way, imagery becomes Yeats’s primary tool for expressing the disintegration of both civilization and human conscience.
B) Do you agree with Yeat's assertion in 'On Being Asked for a War Poem' that poetry should remain a political ? Why or Why not ?
In “On Being Asked for a War Poem,” Yeats presents a quiet but firm refusal to transform poetry into a political weapon. He suggests that during times of war, poetry should avoid public declarations and moral instructions, arguing that “a poet’s mouth be silent.” This stance reflects Yeats’s belief that poetry belongs to the inner world of thought and feeling rather than the noisy realm of political debate.
However, this position is not without its limitations. While Yeats rightly warns against reducing poetry to propaganda, complete silence can also be seen as a form of withdrawal. History shows that poetry has often served as a powerful response to injustice, offering empathy, protest, and truth where political language fails. Poets like Wilfred Owen reveal how verse can expose the horrors of war without glorifying it.
Therefore, Yeats’s argument highlights an important tension between artistic purity and social responsibility. Poetry does not need to provide solutions or slogans, but it can still question power and give voice to suffering. Rather than remaining apolitical, poetry can maintain its artistic integrity while engaging thoughtfully with the moral realities of its time.
2. Creative Activity
1) Write a modernist-inspired poem reflecting on a contemporary global crisis, drawing on Yeats’s themes and techniques. [Generate with the help of Gen AI like ChatGPT or Google Gemini or Meta WhatsApp or Microsoft Co-pilot]
A Modernist-Inspired Poem (in the Spirit of Yeats)
Title: The Climate of Silence
Reflection
This poem adopts Yeatsian modernist elements such as cyclical motion, apocalyptic imagery, and prophetic questioning to reflect on the contemporary global crisis of climate change. Like Yeats’s “The Second Coming,” the poem avoids direct political naming and instead uses symbolic language melting ice, rising oceans, and unstable seasons to convey ecological and moral collapse. The recurring uncertainty and unanswered questions emphasize modernist ambiguity and collective responsibility, suggesting that the crisis is not sudden but born from long-standing neglect. The poem mirrors Yeats’s technique of transforming historical anxiety into a timeless, symbolic vision of impending transformation.
3. Analytical Exercise
1) Compare the treatment of war in On Being Asked for a War Poem with other war poems by Wilfred Owen or Siegfried Sassoon.
War in Yeats Compared with Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon:
In “On Being Asked for a War Poem,” W. B. Yeats presents a restrained and philosophical response to war. Instead of describing battlefields or soldiers, he focuses on the role of the poet during times of violence. Yeats believes that poetry should not be used as propaganda or public instruction, and therefore he chooses silence over political commentary. His treatment of war is indirect, emphasizing personal responsibility and artistic integrity rather than immediate social engagement.
In contrast, Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon confront war directly and emotionally. Owen’s poems, especially “Dulce et Decorum Est,” vividly depict the physical suffering of soldiers through graphic images of gas attacks, exhaustion, and death. His purpose is to expose the reality of war and challenge the false ideals of patriotism and heroism. Similarly, Sassoon uses sharp satire and irony in poems like “The General” to criticize military leaders and the senseless loss of young lives caused by their decisions.
The key difference lies in perspective and experience. Yeats writes from a distance, approaching war as a moral and philosophical problem, whereas Owen and Sassoon write from firsthand experience as soldiers. Yeats’s poetry is symbolic and contemplative, while Owen’s and Sassoon’s poems are realistic, urgent, and confrontational. Together, these poets show that war can be represented in multiple ways either through reflective silence or through powerful exposure of its brutal reality.
References :
Barad, Dilip. “W.B. Yeats Poems.” Dilip Barad | Teacher Blog, 20 May 2021, blog.dilipbarad.com/2021/05/whauden-poems.html. Accessed 27 Dce. 2025.
---. “W.B. Yeats’s Poems: The Second Coming - and - On Being Asked for a War Poem.” ResearchGate, Jan. 2025, dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.17299.18720.
.png)
No comments:
Post a Comment