The Stolen Child Flashcards
Context of ‘The Stolen Child’
- From ‘Crossways’ 1889
- Yeats was twenty-one at the time, at the beginning of his career; it celebrates the Irish stories which his mother loved.
- The poem progresses as a journey through the country, around the town of Sligo, in Ireland. This is where Yeats spent his youth, as it is his mother’s hometown.
Overall Message of ‘The Stolen Child’? (3)
-The loss of innocence- of the poet, and of Ireland- wants Ireland to return to the seemingly idyllic way it was but sees that this is unachievable and just a fantasy, like the island
→ Final stanza: rather than idealise for a way back to a previous Ireland, he seeks acceptance of the current state and searches for compromise
→ The elusiveness and misconceptions created by poetry and romanticism: The child was enticed to the island by poetry but it is all just a façade; lots of imagery that has underlying connotations of danger (and Yeats was one of the main poets to bring about the shift from romanticism to modernism)!
How does WB Yeats display that the island is a fantasy world and separate to the real world in ‘The Stolen Child’? (3)
- “Where dips the rocky highland”- The land is separated from the real world and is just a fantasy. This is enhanced through the repetition of “where”.
- “Wandering water gushes”- The glide alliteration of “w” sounds emphasises a sense of freedom in the land whilst the use of apophasis subtly highlights how the island is surrounded by water and there is not the freedom to return to the real world!
- “moonlight glosses” - imagery of beauty and wonder; of a fantasy world. “glosses” is noteworthy of magic and has unworldly qualities.
How does WB Yeats display the transition between the real and fairy world in ‘The Stolen Child’?
- Semantic field to do with mixing between the two worlds and the transition: “Where the wave of moonlight glosses the dim grey sand with light” – Juxtaposition of “wave” and “moonlight” on either sides of the Earth (above and below us) as well as the chiaroscuro of “dim grey” and “light”
- “mingling hands and mingling glances” has repetition of “mingling” which emphasises the “mingling” between the two worlds. This line is in TETRAMETRE in comparison to the poem that is predominantly IAMBIC to display how the faeries disturb the previous metre of the poem and thus it is implied they have negative influence
How does WB Yeats display the underlying danger of the fairy island in ‘The Stolen Child’? (7)
- “Flapping herons wake/ the drowsy water rat”- The seemingly idyllic image of herons wakes up Yeats to the immediate dangers of this fantasy- the “rat” has been awoken (emphasised by enjambment). Onomatopoeia of “flapping” emphasises this awakening in contrast to the typically poetic words.
- “There we’ve hid our faery vats”- the mischief and misleading nature of the faeries
-“Far off by furthest Rosses”- Heavy alliteration in this line beginning with fricative “f” sounds and becoming sibilant: foreshadowing the poem as a whole, which begins lightly and softly but underlying fears and dangers become more apparent as we go along.
“Far off” also displays the distance of this idea from reality and “from Rosses” displays the distance of this world from modern Ireland (“Rosses is a region in Ireland”) – how there’s no going back to old Ireland
-“Chase the frothy bubbles”/ “full of troubles”- The rhyme of these two lines emphasises how although coming of age leads to greater freedom (“chasing bubbles”), the real world that you grow into is “full of troubles”
- “We seek for slumbering trout/ And whispering in their ears/ Give them unquiet dreams:”- enjambment builds up tension to the outcome of the terror of “unquiet dreams”.
- ->“unquiet” juxtaposes the softness associated with “dreams” whilst also acts as an antithesis to “slumbering” and “whispering” whilst emphasising the misleading kindness of the faeries
- “unquiet dreams;” – the semi colon acts almost as an aposiopesis as WBY almost cuts off as he finally explicitly accentuates the danger of the faeries
- “Away with us he’s going”- No choice in the development of a child: we are all forced to grow up and abandon our innocence at some point
How does WB Yeats link the image of the fairy island to Ireland in ‘The Stolen Child’? (2)
“He’ll hear no more the lowing/ Of the calves on the warm hillside/ Or the kettle on the hob/ Sing peace into his breast, / Or see the brown mice bob/ Round and round the oatmeal chest”
-A return in time would lose us key practical things that we need now; the practical disadvantages of aiming to maintain our innocence and youth.
Whilst many natural elements still remain; they are just intermingled amongst the man-made goods eg. “calves on the warm hillside” and “ brown mice” – emphasises the compromise that WBY is forced to make in accepting his current state- links to modern and past Ireland
-“From ferns that drop their tears/ Over the young streams” - the “streams” is a metaphor for changing Ireland due to its characteristics of fluidity and mobility (a motif used in Easter 1916). The “ferns that drop their tears” demonstrate the reluctant acceptance of letting traditional romantic Ireland go. The “ferns” are also a product of nature and therefore through their “tears” Romanticism is being let go. The adjective “young” highlights that Ireland is beginning to change.
How does the refrain of ‘The Stolen Child’ help to emphasise it’s themes? (5)
-“Come away, O human child!”- “Come away” appears more of a command than a question, thus forcing the child to go through the inevitable loss of innocence that occurs in every life
-“O human child!” – the use of apostrophe “O” directs the statement to the reader who becomes the “human child” in this case and is thus shown the dangers of returning to the past
“human child” separates the reader (the “human”) from the position of the “faeries”
- “To the waters and the wild” emphasises both the freedom and the dangers associated with development (“waters” and “wild”)
- “For the worlds more full of weeping than you can understand”- WBY encourages the youth to savour their childhood as they are too young to “understand” the danger and pain (“weeping”) that is also in the real world
The alliteration of the “w” glide creates an enticing and poetic temptation for the child to go with the faeries- WBY uses this to emphasise the danger of poetry and the artificial and misleading enticement it creates.
How does the last refrain of ‘The Stolen Child’ help to get it’s themes across? (1)
The final refrain has a different first line in that “come away” is replaced with “he comes”- this emphasises how the faeries have been successful in enticing someone to their mystic world, despite it’s dangers and hence why WBY is warning the reader of it’s danger!
What is the form of ‘The Stolen Child’ and how does this add to it’s themes?
Ballad form creates a lyrical and enticing feel to the poem, highlighting it’s poetic form and thus adds to WBY’s warning of the dangers of the poetic faeries and the idyllic, poetic calls of innocence and a past Ireland
What is the rhyme scheme of ‘The Stolen Child’ and how does it add to the themes of the poem?
ABABCC repeated throughout the poem emphasises how WBY decides and is tempted by both the real and faery world throughout the poem but in the end accepts the compromise he finds as he realises although he wants to change Ireland, and his own life, he cannot do it through a return to youth of himself or Ireland.
What is the rhythm of ‘The Stolen Child’ and how does this add to the themes of the poem?
Predominantly iambic: the contrast of stressed and unstressed syllables also emphasises the decision between the real and fairy world, whilst adding the lyrical feel of the poem.
