On being asked for a war poem - W.B. Yeats Context

Question 1

Explain the context of the poem

Answer 1

• The poem was written in 1915 in answer to a request from Henry James that Yeats write a poem about World War I, which had begun in 1914, and in which the English were suffering massive casualties as they were exposed to the horrors of trench warfare.
o Yeats responds by declining to write about the war, saying that giving advice to politicians isn’t really the point of poetry, and then suggests that he writes not for political causes but for people such as old men and young women, who have leisure to read poetry for itself.

Question 2

Explain the purpose of the poem

Answer 2

• The poem can best be summarized as an argument against poets involving themselves in political issues, or serious matters of state, such as war. With the line “We have no gift to set a statesman straight,” Yeats is simply implying that poets do not have the wisdom or authority to interfere in the business of politics, nor should they make uninformed statements about war and its causes. The key word in the poem is “meddling.” “He has had enough of meddling…” The word’s negative connotation speaks to the Yeats’ less than favorable opinion of poets who involve themselves in politics. Yeats’ concludes the poem by restating his opinion that poetry should be written to appeal only to those who have the leisure time to read and enjoy it, and not used as a platform for political change.

Question 3

Outline the poem’s structure

Answer 3

• This poem is a sextet, with a rhyme scheme ABC, ABC. The first three lines refer to the poet’s attitude to writing about war; the next three lines write on the self-imposed limits of the poet’s interventions in the world.
• This poem was written after Yeats was asked to write a war poem. It is a meditation on whether poets can write war poetry. It also considers an old question: what is the role of the poet in society, and what is the function of poetry? Shelley, a great Romantic poet, once called poets “the unacknowledged legislators of the world” (meaning that poets create a culture or spirit of an age that molds its thinkers and even politicians, an “influence that moves not, but moves”: you can read a contemporary poet’s take on the role of poetry in the Guardian, here). An ancient philosopher, Plato, even thought that poetry should be banned as corrupting to society. Yeats here enters this long-standing argument in the modern age.

Question 4

Explain the content of the poem

Answer 4

• “I think it better…a poet’s mouth be silent”: The opening statement is forthright and conversational about “times like these”, or times of war- the enjambment, or running over the end of line, mimics everyday speech. When the poet writes of “a poet’s mouth” being silent, he is using a technique called metonymy. Like metaphor, metonymy substitutes one thing for another. Metaphor does this by contrasting different things (“He was an animal”) but in metonymy, something closely related to something else is substituted. For example: “the crown” may refer to the Queen or royalty, or “the press” may to refer to the newspapers. Both are closely connected. Here, the “poet’s mouth” represents (because it speaks) his poetry.
• “We have no gift to set a statesman right;” A statesman is a political leader. Here, it is asserted that poets have no “gift”, or ability, to tell statesman how they should make decisions. This seems to say that poetry has no place in intervening in politics, and the poet no role in making big statements about wars and what causes them. Note the semi-colon: this opening statement about the world in the macrocosm ends here.
• “meddling”: Another word for interfering. This key word in the poem gives us a hint of the poet’s attitude to those who try and write activist or political poems: they are ‘meddlers’, troublesome interferers. The tone is obviously negative. “Meddling” in the lives of old men and young girls carries a lighter and happier tone however- a sense of play.
• “He… can please a young girl in the indolence of her youth”: A quick change in imagery and reference point, from the macrocosm to the microcosm, from the world of politics to the world of intimate acquaintances. The new scene is lazy (“indolence”), relaxed, one of beauty (“youth”) and innocence.
• “an old man on a winter’s night”: this completes the scope of the poet’s influence. Does this mean that poetry is suited to everyday lessons and life? That the poet’s role is to appeal to beauty and wisdom, youth and age? These certainly seem narrower limits to the role of poetry than ‘setting statesmen right’. Yeats, however, would surely argue that poetry’s concerns are higher than political contingency.