Dissatisfaction with Society Revealed in Yeats’ Stolen Child

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Dissatisfaction with Society Revealed in Yeats’ Stolen Child

The Stolen Child,"a poem by W.B. Yeats, relates the story of a child who is lured away by fairies to a fantasy world illustrated through rich descriptions of nature and the freedom it offers. The plot of the poem becomes a metaphor for the return to innocence that the author feels is necessary in a society that is attempting to lead children away from the mysticism and innocence that characterize childhood, toward a more mundane reality as an adult. With his vivid descriptions and use of extended metaphor, Yeats is able to create a world unaffected by time, in stark contrast to the world in which we live, to illustrate his dissatisfaction with reality.

In the first stanza, Yeats describes this magical world he has created. He relates the dimensions and characteristics of an island, which is to be his setting. Here the fairies have hid their "faery vats, full of berries / And of the reddest stolen cherries" (6). The description of stolen fruit connotates lost innocence through a biblical allusion to the Garden of Eden. Yeats uses this allusion to support his message that the innocence of childhood is left behind in a world "more full of weeping than you can understand" (12). The refrain of the poem also includes a reference to "the wild," (10) a characteristic that modern society does not contain. Yeats appears to be generally dissatisfied with how society as a whole has moved away from nature toward a more domesticated lifestyle.

Yeats's vivid descriptions of a fantastical natural world continue in the second stanza where he speaks of dancing on the beach in the moonlight. The concept of chasing "the frothy bubbles" (21) of the waves implies ...

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...is actually describing what is already available on earth, in nature, in fulfilling this dream of heaven.

Yeats is therefore able to convey his criticism of modern society through the tale of a child who is lured away by fairies back to the natural world. The symbols of freedom found in the descriptions of nature contrast sharply with the symbols of domestication found in the descriptions of the world in which the child is lured from. The air of delicacy and grace with which he describes nature helps Yeats to develop a mythical atmosphere, which draws stark contrast to a world filled with weeping and troubles. Thus, the descriptions found within "The Stolen Child" are an important outlet through which Yeats is able to express his general dissatisfaction with modern society and its migration away from nature and the general freedom and abandon of childhood.

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