Easter 1916 Analysis

This poem clearly looks at the war between the Irish and the British, in hope for Irish independence. After I read this poem, I immediately thought of the movie, Michael Collins. That movie was about the Easter Rising in Ireland, as well as the Irish Civil War.

I thought that the line, "a terrible beauty is born" mainly represented war or battles between people. It was terrible that there needed to be a war, since war is devastating and costs many people's lives. However, there was a "beauty" that arose from the terribleness, because the Irish fought for what they believed in. That's always a good thing. I saw "a terrible beauty is born" also as an oxymoron. After simply looking at the words, how can something beautiful be terrible? This line was significant to the poem, since it was repeated three times.

I looked at the poem, " Returning, We Hear the Larks" by Isaac Rosenberg. This poem has war elements too it, but Rosenberg's language is more descriptive than Yeats'. "But song only dropped, like a blind man's dreams on the sand by dangerous tides," is a very powerful similie. Blind men are vulnerable, so if the tides are dangerous, they cannot see and can easily drown. Other lines, like the one about the girl's dark hair is a good similie as well. I think the poem is a metaphor for how vulnerable and scared soldiers can be due to war and that death is unstoppable. Men can fear death, but cannot run from it.