A Comparative Discussion of Wild Swans at Coole and The Second Coming

408 Words1 Page

A Comparative Discussion of Wild Swans at Coole and The Second Coming

These two poems, written by the same author focus on different aspects

of what was happening in his life. They are written at different times

and are concerned with what is happening in his life at the time. One

is concerned with world issues, such as the aftermath of World War 1,

and the other, a contemplation of different aspects of his life. Both

use different techniques and styles to emphasise these differing

themes.

'The Second Coming' was written just after WW1 had finished, but the

fighting still carried on in Ireland, and the communist revolution in

Russia had just occurred. Yeats seemed to take all these events as

signs that the Christian ear was coming to an end and the birth of a

new god, the poems poses the question of what form this new god will

take. At the time the 'Wild Swans at Coole' was written, Yeats had

proposed to Maude for a second time and been refused for a second time

and some of Yeats’s friends had been executed in the Easter Rising of

1916. so, understandably he was depressed at the time.

'Wild Swans at Coole' has a rhyming pattern (ABCBDD) and a consistent

number of lines in each stanza. This predictability of pattern and

numbers, I think, represents the predictability of the swans, the fact

that they always come back to the same place at the same time, and the

consistency of their numbers, there are always 59. whereas, on the

other hand, in 'The Second Coming' there is no rhyming pattern at all

and no fixed number of lines for each stanza. This emphasizes the

unpredictable future that he is writing about, no one knows who, what,

how or when this new god or beast will arise.

The themes and moods of the poems are very different, Yeats has chosen

his words very carefully to emphasise the mood. 'The Second Coming'

has a very depressive, apocalyptic and dramatic mood, the repetition

of ‘turning’, repetition of ‘cannot’, the imagery of ‘the beast’, and

More about A Comparative Discussion of Wild Swans at Coole and The Second Coming

Open Document