More model hebdos! (Updated 2/13)

Are you still a little uncomfortable putting together close reading and analysis in under a page? Ellie (313) offers this excellent demonstration of how to look at a text closely and critically while still offering up a larger reading of why those details are important. Notice that she begins with what Prof. Wolfe was saying in lecture about the relationship between the Romantics and the Modernists, and observes differences between these movements in everything from the details of the words that are used to the larger intent of the poem. This is good stuff.

Where the wave of moonlight glosses
The dim grey sands with light,
Far off by furthest Rosses
We foot it all the night,
Weaving olden dances,
Mingling hands and mingling glances
Till the moon has taken flight;
To and fro we leap
And chase the frothy bubbles,
While the world is full of troubles
And is anxious in its sleep
-from “The Stolen Child”

Though it could be said that Yeats’s earlier works had echoes of romanticism, his poems were definitely different from the romantic poets’ works. William Butler Yeats, in the second stanza of “The Stolen Child,” employs long alliterations and assonances with deceptive language to caution one from running to nature to escape
reality.

The alliteration and assonance in the second stanza do not last only a line, but continue for the whole stanza. The chief alliteration of the stanza would involve the words “Where the wave,” “Weaving,” and “While the world.” The letter “w” is the first letter of many question words. Repeating this sound in the stanza tells one the question the speaker of the poem. The speaker claims that if the child follows the fairy he/she will live a carefree life “While the world is full of troubles.” The alliteration of the “w,” however, urges one to doubt the existence of a place where “dim grey sands” are made “light.” Romantics trust nature to restore them, but Yeats warns one not to completely rely on nature.

The misleading diction is symbolic of Yeats’s attitude toward Romanticism. The speaker tells the child to go “Where the wave of moonlight glosses/ The dim grey sands with light.” Sand is crumbly and rough representing the world at this time. At first, it seems like nature will smooth out, or “gloss” this sand and brighten the world with the “moonlight.” One should remember, however, that the moon is not as dependable as the sun. The sun can be counted on to rise everyday and provide light. The moon, though, may rise every night, but it cannot always be seen. A new moon would leave these sands a “dim grey.” The word “gloss” also alludes to the deceptive comfort of nature. A gloss does not smooth something, it only hides the roughness. The sand may look smooth in the “moonlight,” but it is still sand and will always be rough. Words like “wave,” “Weaving,” and “To and fro” suggest something that is not constant, but oscillates. Something that wavers can not be depended on. Nature appears like a perfect escape from city life, but life is rough wherever one resides.

Matt (314) offers this example of a comparison essay. Notice that he compares not surface details of these two poems but rather looks for tonal variation. (One quibble: Matt could have gone on to explain how this difference in the poems' tone, etc., reveals important changes in Yeats's poetic outlook.)

William Butler Yeat’s writing can easily be seen as substantially diverse when comparing specific time periods in his life. This is evident from the smallest detail to the most general concept. A prime comparison of this gamut is visible when contrasting an earlier piece such as “The Lake At Innisfree” with a later work like “September 1913.”

With “Innisfree,” Yeats has created a beautifully simple piece that is fluid in both its poetic structure and subject matter. The poem keeps a reoccurring rhyme scheme (ABAB CDCD EFEF), making it easy and painless for the reader to digest. Yeats avoids giving “Innisfree” any kind of meter, but with his continuous use of end stoppage, this does anything but inhibit the poems strength. It is also broken up into short stanzas that add to the light, digestible feel of the poem. The fluidity of the piece is also reinforced by various examples of alliteration throughout (“lake...lapping...low”).

“September 1913,” on the other hand, contains poetic structure that is much more heavy and harder to swallow than the previous example. Although it contains a rhyme scheme that is similar “Innisfree,” this poem uses an iambic pentameter meter scheme, giving the piece a rigid and structured. The stanza length is has been heavily increased here, and more enjambment has been utilized, stripping each line of satisfying closure and leaving the reader feeling tense.

The images and themes the respective pieces create are also incredibly different. Innisfree’s main theme revolves around nature, and various word choices, such as the repetition of “peace” and “heart.” Turning away from the modernists of his time, Yeats chooses to disregard the modern world and yearn for a world without other humans. Although the few lines regarding modernism are bleak and “grey,” the poem contains much hope and reoccurring images of light and life.

“September,” once again, differs from its counterpart. Images of life and hope seen in “Innisfree” are opposed here with various references to death and pessimism. Where in “Innisfree,” Yeats can escape the daily grind and return to the lake, the voice of “September” has absolutely no hope. The piece is much more accusatory in that it uses the “you” form and is aggressive towards the reader. A grave tone also paints itself across all of the piece, with ample cemetery and religious references.