The relationship between modernity and mythology in W.B. Yeats's poetry : An analysis of 'Easter 1916', 'Sailing to Byzantium' and 'Leda and the Swan'

Essay from the year 2016 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 1st, Falmouth University, course: English and Creative Writing, language: English, abstract: This essay will examine the relationship between mythology and modernity in relation to Yeats's poetry, and its role and importance within the Irish tradition. I will analyse in-depth the poems 'Easter 1916', 'Sailing to Byzantium' and 'Leda and the Swan', while paying close attention to the form, language and the argument Yeats is trying to make. Anthony Bradley states that 'Yeats also saw in Irish myth and legend the hidden and primitive religious energies that could be assimilated to Irish nationalism, and which were not available to modern churches, Catholic or Protestant'. The tension between mythology and colonisation is apparent in his poetry, where a balance must be struck and maintained. Yet, while true history is key to Yeats, Daniel Gomes on Yeats explains that myth was beginning to be seen less 'as representative of crude racial typographies and instead began to underscore the archetypal themes and structural patterns found in myths, legends, and folklore across national traditions'. I will use M. L. Rosenthal, The Modern Poet to analyse the ways in which Yeats intends to grasp and understand the modern mind; while also exploring in-depth his aversion to modernity in the work of Michael North. Rhythm being crucial to the task of crafting effective poetry, I will engage with the work of Michael Golston to further my argument on the importance of form and structure within Yeats' poetry.