To what extent is the notion of revolution full of contradictions in Yeats' poetry?
[...] A kind of revolution hence happened in his thoughts. After having talked about outside and inner revolutions of Yeats, we can also perceive a kind of revolution within his poetry itself. Undeniably at the beginning, his poetry was considered as lyric and romantic. In his early poems; he mainly focused on love, women, feelings of the human soul or on idyllic gorgeous landscapes of Ireland. He was then regarded as a poet of contemplation and as a seeker of Beauty. [...]
[...] Writing was a pacific means to defend and praise the values he believed in. Nonetheless maintaining traditional values within a changing society was not that easy. In his mind gathering his deep attachment for the past (his old Ireland) and his wishes for a better future (deep reformation of the political system) was difficult. In addition, past stayed ambiguous since it sometimes appeared as a clear cut finished period, sometimes as a very influent motive. Besides, future seemed promising and fateful at the same time. [...]
[...] He also turned towards realistic themes, his idealist optimist tone turned to an austere disillusioned tone. For instance, he spoke about politics “Politics” or funeral deeds such as in He depicted the absurdity and destruction of his contemporary world as in “Vacillation”. His disillusion about that new modern world -ruined by wars- filtered through his poetry. In a way, he thus rebelled against that hopefulness period. More or less against his own will, Yeats' poetry transformed. We can assist to a true revolution in themes and style. [...]
[...] Another revolution happened in his poetry: his surprising transformation from lyricism to modernism. Even if he first rebelled against new modern techniques and contemporary themes (we can talk about a kind of “counter revolution”) he finally surrendered and assimilated them in his poems. At the beginning of his career, the fact of being “non-revolutionary” in form and subjects made his presence paradoxically felt. He became a great figure of the Cultural Revolution and of the Irish revival. The other acceptation of the word as a rotation allowed us to contemplate his poetry as a cyclic one, in adequacy with his personal theory about History. [...]
[...] His tone is often nostalgic when he reminded the past. He is torn and lost somewhere between ended past and imminent future. There is often confusion between the past, the present and the future in his poems. About the present, we can also notice that he tends to depict an everlasting present and immortal truth. He is eager to seize and capture the beautifulness of the instant. statues” or stolen child” illustrate this suggestion and the use of the “generic present” gives poems a timeless dimension. [...]
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