William Butler Yeats (1865-1939)
Discussion Questions:
2467:
- Explain the image of the interpenetrating cones. (See
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)
2468:
- Explain: "Man can embody
truth but he cannot know it" (qtd. 2468).
"The Lake Isle of Innisfree" (1890)
2470:
- Why is the speaker going to Innisfree? What does
Innisfree represent?
- Explain lines 10-12.
"The Second Coming" (1919)
2481-82:
- What is the subject of this poem?
- Explain lines 19-20.
- Explain lines 21-22.
"Leda and the Swan" (1923)
2484-85:
- What mythological story is
Yeats portraying in this poem?
- What is Yeats's overall
message in this poem?
- Explain the final question.
Other Discussion Questions:
2465:
- Describe Yeats's ideas of
poetry during the early stages of his career.
2466:
- Describe the influence of
Nietzsche's thought on Yeats.
2467:
- What "contending aspects of
himself" does Yeats mediate between?
- What is automatic writing?
2468:
- In what ways is Yeats similar to T. S. Eliot and Ezra
Pound?
"Second Coming"
2482:
- Explain: "The ceremony of innocence is
drowned" (6).
