5. William Butler Yeats (cont.)

Modern Poetry (ENGL 310) with Langdon Hammer
Yeats's middle period is explored, beginning with the middle-aged Yeats's assumption of the role of spokesman for Irish nationalism and the development of his complicated response to nationalist violence. The aestheticization of violence is considered in the poem "Easter, 1916" and briefly in "The Statues." Yeats's conception of the relationship of violence to history, with particular emphasis on the frightening interaction among the divine, the human, and the bestial, is demonstrated in the visionary poems "The Second Coming" and "The Magi," and finally in "Leda and the Swan."
00:00 - Chapter 1. Introduction
07:52 - Chapter 2. W. B. Yeats Poem: "Easter, 1916"
23:15 - Chapter 3. W. B. Yeats and History
28:47 - Chapter 4. W. B. Yeats Poem: "The Second Coming"
34:40 - Chapter 5. W. B. Yeats Poem: "The Magi"
37:55 - Chapter 6. W. B. Yeats Poem: "Leda and the Swan"
Complete course materials are available at the Open Yale Courses website: oyc.yale.edu
This course was recorded in Spring 2007.