William butler yeats

1. William butler yeats Modernist Poetry

2. Biographical Notes… • 1865 – 1939, Born in Sandymount Dublin • His father was a religious skeptic, and Yeats himself didn’t embrace Christian orthodoxy. He turned to mysticism, mythology, and philosophy to fill a spiritual void in his life. • Influenced by Irish nationalism when he lived in Dublin • Wrote a book, A Vision, (1925, 1937) that theorized about the movements of history.

3. “The Second Coming” • Write down observations about • Form • Syntax • Imagery • Tone • How does the poem reflect the modernist zeitgeist? • If you have an ipad, look up the dates surrounding the Irish War of Independence.

4. Traditional Sonnet • A love poem that was particularly popular during the Renaissance. • 14 lines of iambic pentameter • Two types of sonnets: • Petrarchan • An octave (8 lines) & a sestet (6 lines) • Rhyme scheme: abbaabbacdecde • Shakespearean • Three quatrains (4 lines) & a couplet • Rhyme scheme: ababcdcdefefgg

5. “Leda and the Swan” • Write down observations about • Form • Syntax • Imagery • Tone Why does Yeats use a sonnet? What is the poem’s main message? How does the poem reflect the modernist zeitgeist?

6. Terms to know… • Metonymy – A figure of speech in which one thing is represented by another that is commonly and often physically associated with it. Example: The “White House” just announced • Irony – The difference between expectation and outcome (situational irony) • Enjambment – lines flowing immediately into the next • Free verse – poetry without rhyme or meter • Imagery – collection of images within a literary work used to evoke atmosphere, mood, tension • Sonnet – • Diction – word choice • Tone – the speaker’s attitude toward the subject matter • Syntax – sentence structure, word order, etc. • Personification – giving human qualities to non-human entities