What Romantic Elements Do You Find in the Poems of W.B. Yeats?

Answer

What romantic elements do you find in the poems of W.B. Yeats? [2018] 

W.B. Yeats (1865-1939) is one of the greatest poets of modern English literature. Though he lived in the modern age, his heart was deeply romantic. His early poems are full of imagination, beauty, and dreams. He loved nature, mystery, and old Irish legends. His poems express emotions more than reason. Like Wordsworth and Keats, he believed in the power of feeling and imagination. Therefore, Yeats is rightly called “the last romantic” among modern poets.

Love for Nature: Yeats’s love for nature is one of his strongest romantic qualities. He saw nature as peaceful and healing. In “The Lake Isle of Innisfree,” he dreams of a quiet life in nature. He says, 

“I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree.” 

The isle is an ideal place of peace and freedom. He imagines a cottage of clay and wattles. This shows his romantic desire to escape city life and live close to nature. Like Wordsworth (1770-1850), Yeats finds comfort and spiritual joy in the beauty of the natural world.

Power of Imagination: Yeats’s poems are full of imagination and dreamlike scenes. In “The Stolen Child,” he creates a magical world where fairies dance and sing in the lake. They call the human child, saying, 

“Come away, O human child! To the waters and the wild.” 

This world is full of peace, joy, and fantasy. The dreamy pictures of lakes, herons, and faeries show his power to turn ordinary things into something magical. Like Coleridge (1772-1834), Yeats uses imagination to create a new and beautiful world of poetry.

Escapism and Idealism: The desire to escape from modern life is another romantic trait in Yeats. He hated the noise and confusion of the city. So, in many poems, he tries to find peace in an ideal world. In “Sailing to Byzantium,” the poet wishes to leave the world of youth and decay. He wants to go to Byzantium, a