Definition, Causes and Types of Conflict

#mdnuralamplscr
Unit Twelve: Peace and Conflict
#WBYeats
#WHAuden
Lesson 1
Definition, Causes and Types of Conflict
1. Warm up activity:
❑ What is your view of peace and #conflict? Write five words that come to your
mind when you think of peace and five more when you think of conflict.
Here are two poems that speak of manÕs desire for peace and the inevitability of
conflict or war. W.B. Yeats (1865-1939) was an Irish poet whose early poetry showed
a yearning for love and peace, and who found in nature a refuge from the ugliness of
city life. ÔThe Lake Isle of InnisfreeÕ gives him the promise of some peace of mind. W.
H. Auden (1907-1973) was an Anglo-American poet who became famous for his
stylistic and technical achievements and for poems (and plays) of exceptional depth
and feelings. He wrote about love, war, religion, politics and the problems of modern
man. ÔSeptember 1, 1939Õ is an indictment of all wars, particularly one that was
looming over the world in 1939.
2. Read the poems and answer the questions that follow:
A. ÔThe Lake Isle of InnisfreeÕ by W.B. Yeats
I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,
And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made;
Nine bean rows will I have there, a hive for the honey bee
And live alone in the bee loud glade.
And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow
Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings;
There midnight's all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow,
And evening full of the linnet's wings
I will arise and go now, for always night and day
I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;
While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey,
I hear it in the deep heartÕs core.
3. Describe the island in YeatsÕ poem. What does Ôbee loud gladeÕ mean?
4. What does the poet mean when he says Ôfor peace comes dropping slowÕ?
5. Why does the poet desire peace so much? Can such an island really offer him
peace?
B. From ÔSeptember 1, 1939Õ by W. H. Auden
I sit on one of the dives
On Fifty-second Street
Uncertain and afraid
As the clever hopes expire.
Of a low dishonest decade:
Waves of anger and fear
Circulate over the bright
And darkened lands of the earth,
Obsessing our private lives;
The unmentionable odour of death
Offends the September night.
6. Discuss the nature of the conflict one finds in cities such as the one the poet
lives in.
7. AudenÕs poem has as its setting the city of New York. How does the city
contribute to the conflict in the poetÕs mind?
8. How does Auden describe the impending war? What effect does a war have on
people?
9. Why does the poet feel Ôuncertain and afraidÕ?
10. Why does the poet mean when he says ÔWaves of anger and fear/Circulate
over the bright/ And darkened lands of the earthÕ?
11. Can you explain what the poet means by ÔThe unmentionable odour of deathÕ?
12. Write a brief summary of each of the poems.
13. What is the meaning of each of the following words?
a. #wattles
b. #veil
c. #glimmer
d. #linnet
e. #lapping
f. #expire
g. #obsession
h. #offend.