Critical 2

Even though both poems are about war and its horrors they approach it very differently for many reasons. The position of the author and the type of war both make a significant impact of the poem.  In "Easter 1916" Yeats is describing a revolution of his oppressed people.  It is something he feels vehemently passionate about.  The conflict is very close to his heart, but he is not involved in the actions of which he writes about.  Rosenburg on the other hand, is questionably on the other end of the spectrum.  He was cannon fodder for a devastating war that engulfed the entire world and eventually became his own demise.  In his poem “Break of Day in the Trenches” he enviously describes a rat who can “cross the sleeping green between” the English and German sides of the battle.  He is jealous of the rat because the rat has more of a chance of survival than the men on the front.  He does not have much of a political hue to his poetry like W.B. Yeats does.

In Yeats’ “Easter 1916” the phrase “a terrible beauty is born” is repeated three times.  Each time I interpreted as a different meaning.  The first terrible beauty is the horrific act of war (terrible) that will hopefully gain independence (beauty) for a nation.  The second terrible beauty is the prospect of being an independent state.  Once you gain independence the real trouble begins.  He is aware of the challenges that the independent Irish nation will be facing.   The third terrible beauty is the terrible tragedy it is for someone to be a martyr, the beauty lies in the gainfull product of their actions.