“And when white moths were on the wing,
And moth-like stars were flickering out,
I dropped the berry in a stream
And caught a little silver trout.”
From The Song of the Wandering Aengus
While Yeats was influenced by the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and Shelley, there was a transient sense of his imagery moving across Irish folklore and Irish Nationalism. Needless to say, he was influenced by the Irish mythological cycles and this is where The Song of the Wandering Aengus is introduced. His poetic themes ran along Symbolism while it distanced itself from naturalism and realism. Yeats in the true symbolist fashion adapted his writing to dreams, dream interpretation, and spirituality. ‘But something rustled on the floor, and someone called me by my name: It had become a glimmering girl’ is a beautiful example of his dreamlike imagery strongly influenced by symbolism.
Further, Yeats left a profound impact on the growth of modernism and he was influenced by the growth of Irish Nationalism. As far as his poetry was concerned, he drew themes along the lines of the Occult. The Wanderings of Oisin draws its reference from the Fenian Cycle of Irish folklore. This poem is an example of Irish mythology, spirituality, and his love for Ireland.
Another of Yeats’ most popular poems is The Second Coming. Critics refer to it as a poem with some of the best and most haunting imagery from the twentieth century. It also influenced Chinua Achebe to write Things Fall Apart. Moving back to The Second Coming, it reveals the decadent side of the West steeped in materialism. The verses here reveal an apocalyptic vision of the world also:
“Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned.
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.”
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