Comparative Analysis Of William Butler Yeats’ Poems
“The Wild Swans of Coole” and “The Lake Isle of Innisfree” are two poems written by William Butler Yeats. Each poem acknowledges the sweetness and peace nature brings to the world. Each of the poems are unique in their own ways and there are similarities and differences between the two.
It is always good to look at a poet’s background to give us insight on who they are, and it helps understanding their poems. William Butler Yeats was born in 1865 in the Capital of Ireland. His father trained as a lawyer but gave that up for art. Yeats spent a lot of his early years going back and forth from Ireland to London which was where his father was studying art. In the late 1880s Yeats proposed marriage to a woman named Maud Gonne many times and she turned him down. Yeats explored poetry topics related to the occult, mysticism, and folktales in Ireland. Yeats not only wrote poetry but he wrote plays a well. He served as the president and co-director for the Irish National Theater Society that he helped found. In 1917, Yeats married Georgie Hyde-Lee and that is when Yeats began a new creative period doing automatic writing where Yeats came up with theories of history and human nature. Yeats and his wife soon had two children, one daughter and one son. In 1922, Yeats became a senator in the Irish Free State for six years. The next year he received the Nobel Prize in Literature for his writing. Yeats wrote “The Lake Isle of Innisfree” in 1888 and he wrote “The Wild Swans at Coole” in 1917.
Rhyme in poems is what brings rhythm and even helps make a poem musical. A poem is not just about understanding the words but having an experience reading it through its sound, rhythm, and rhymes. The form of “The Wild Swans of Coole” was written basic and usual. The poem has five six-line stanzas. The rhyme scheme in each stanza is “ABCBDD” so the last words of the second- and fourth-lines rhyme and then the last words of the fifth- and sixth-lines rhyme. “The Lake Isle of Innisfree” has a different form. This poem has three four-line stanzas. The rhyme scheme in each stanza is “ABAB” so the last words of the first- and third-lines rhyme and then the last words of the second- and fourth-lines rhyme.
Symbolism is used in poems to help create emotions and meaning to a story. Rather than blatantly saying something, authors can use symbolism to indicate certain moods or emotions. In “The Wild Swans of Coole” the dry paths mentioned in the first stanza is a symbol and is contrasted with the imagery of the fifty-nine swans and the overflowing lake. It is like two worlds were created, the world with the beautiful lake symbolizing life and then the world William Yeats lived in where dryness and autumn has taken over. The dry paths symbolize passing through time and that in William’s world, everything changes. While in the swan’s world, things remain still and always the same and that life is full of beauty. The swans in the poem is the biggest symbol. Within 19 years, William went through many changes in his life while the swans, nothing changed for them and they remained mysterious and beautiful as they moved about happily and playfully in the water. The swans symbolize beauty, grace, and eternal youth. The swans also provide an escape from William’s fears of getting old. Another symbol in this poem is the lake. The lake acts like a mirror which reflected everything around it. It also acted like a mirror for William, allowing him to look at himself and see his life in a different perspective.
In “The Lake Isle of Innisfree” Innisfree itself is symbolic. Innisfree is a real place and William visited there when he was a child so it symbolized his past and his future because of the feelings he has for that place. It symbolizes the peace William feels that only nature can give. The way William describes Innisfree is beautiful and peaceful. He does not just want to revisit Innisfree but he wants to “arise and go”. Yeats uses the roadways and “pavements grey” in the last stanza of the poem to symbolize the thing he is trying to escape, the city. Being in a city, you are surrounded by people and Yeats wished to be alone in nature in Innisfree. He wanted a life with no distractions or problems, just a happy and peaceful life. Roadways and pavement symbolize urbanization and the fact that the world used to be more connected to nature. The cabin on the lake, “of clay and wattles made,” also symbolizes a simple life and simplicity can bring happiness to people.
The theme in a poem is the big message or idea an auther is trying to bring. “The Wild Swans at Coole” and “The Lake Isle of Innisfree” both have the same theme of nature but there are other themes that can be interpreted while reading these poems as well. In “The Wild Swans at Coole” Yeats along with the world have changed during the nineteen years he wasn’t visiting the lake, but he saw that the swans and the lake did not change. The poem’s idea is that human generations are always changing, people come and go but nature remains the same which is beautiful and eternal. Eternity can also be a theme of this poem. The swans in the poem continue to live and love as they always have, and swans do not pay attention to the passage of time like humans do. In “The Lake Isle of Innisfree”, Yeats is longing for peace. He can only find that at Innisfree where there is natural beauty and isolation. A person can really find themselves in nature and make you look at life from a different perspective. A difference in themes of these poems is in “The Wild Swans at Coole” it seems as if Yeats feels lonely. He was caught up in his memories and he was jealous like towards the swans because they can swim around happily with their lovers. In “The Lake Isle of Innisfree” Yeats wanted to escape to Innisfree and be alone and alienated from the city and people.
The tone in poetry sets the mood. The author creates feelings and emotions in their poem. The tones of “The Wild Swans at Coole” and “The Lake Isle of Innisfree” are different from each other. The tone of “The Wild Swans at Coole” is admiration and a little bit of despair because Yeats was not satisfied with his life. Yeats admired the swans because of their beauty, happiness, and freedom but also envied their ability to live such a perfect life. There is also a subtle tone of beauty and respect for life’s creatures and the mystery associated with them. The tone of “The Lake Isle of Innisfree” is dreamy. Yeats is longing for a place in which is different from where he lived at the time. Innisfree is a real place but the way he described it was very dreamlike. This poem also has a peaceful, calm tone because of all the nature such as the singing crickets, the bee-loud glade, and the sound of the lake water lapping.
Imagery is basically what brings poetry to life. Imagery triggers our five senses. In “The Lake Isle of Innisfree” Yeats allows the reader to visualize Innisfree and how lovely, peaceful, and perfect it is. Yeats creates vivid pictures by his use of details. It also allows readers to envision things from the speaker’s point of view and Yeats made it possible for the reader to understand the desire the speaker had to escape the city and live a more simple, peaceful life excluded from the craziness of the world. This poem creates beautiful images as does the poem “The Wild Swans at Coole”. In that poem, Yeats creates the image of a beautiful autumn day at the lake where the swans were swimming and when the swans took flight.
In conclusion, there are many elements to writing a good poem and both poems that William Yeats wrote, “The Isle Lake of Innisfree” and “The Wild Swans at Coole” are written beautifully with amazing details. They both share similarities and differences to one another, and they have a lot of different meanings.
Works Cited
- Mead, Wendy. “William Butler Yeats.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 20 July 2019, https://www.biography.com/writer/william-butler-yeats.
