September 1913
From ZuluNotes - Free Leaving Cert Notes
Contents |
Themes
- Remebering romantic Ireland
- Disgust with modern Ireland
- Politics
Analysis
Stanza I
Here, Yeats has emphasised life as small, narrow & dirty. He shows his anger at mean merchant classes - "What need you, being come to sense, but fumble in a greasy till". With use of reference to the "halfpence", he explains that it is a small denomination and utterly materialistic.The image of money is used to address the issue of death and the old tradition of the body being disposed of with money to ensure entry to heaven. He sees the catholic middle classes as penny pinching fools, completely dominated by the church and only interested in praying and saving. Yeats uses the word "marrow" as a metaphor to describe the state of Ireland, meaning that marrow is most nutritious and that they are bleeding the country dry. Reference to O' Leary is shown here who was a Fenian and a selfless, generous and cultured man who loved beauty.
Stanza II
" Yet they were a different kind" - He is thinking about the heroes he does respect. The tone of this stanza is one of admiration , love and respect for heroes. Here, he contrast the greed of the middle class with the selfless heroism of Irelands past. "dead and gone...." - this is emphatic and definitive. He again lements the death of romantic Ireland again. "for whom the hangmans..." - again highlight the selfless nature of the heroes who still gave their lives for the cause.
Stanza III
"...wild geese spread" - Refers to the men who fled after the Battle Of Kinsale, served with French & Spanish armies. He suggests did O' Neill, O' Donnell, Mac Mahon endure exhile because of the materialistic petty class of 1913. Notice the use of repetition of "for this". The use of the word "delerium", a status of insantity, Yeats uses it as a term of admiration.
Stanza IV
In this stanza, Yeats is arguing that the middle class philistines of modern Ireland are not capable of understanding the sacrifices made by the patriots of Ireland. "you'd cry...." - Here suggests alternative names for Ireland, RoisÃn Dubh, Emerald Isle etc. "..what they gave" - look back at Ireland of 1913 and compare it to now, see the difference, their sacrifices were for nothing.
Refrain
"Romantic Ireland" - idealistic, generous - John O'Leary "they" - weighed so lightly what they gave. Let them be there, dead and gone, they're with O' Leary in the grave.
Notes
Yeats was very disillusioned when he wrote this poem. Hugh Lane, the 1913 Lockout and the Abbey Riots hugely influenced the composition of the poem. Note Yeats' devastating contrast between past glory and present shame of Ireland. .
