Irish nationalism in the later poetry of William Butler Yeats.

Abstract

This Dissertation aims to investigate William Butler Yeast’s nationalism and his relationship with the issue of Irish nationalism, along with his criticism of the English occupation of Ireland, within the context of a select number of poems. The main argument of this study is that historical events have a great impact on literature, and that the writer may be the best representative when it comes to defend national issues. By means of a close study of three of William Butler Yeats’s most famous poems; “The Second Coming”, “Easter 1916”and “Sailing to Byzantium,” this dissertation shows that he displays a strong sense of nationalism in his works which he almost exclusively devoted to the Irish cause. In spite of the fact that he spent two thirds of his life outside Ireland, his mother country remained at the centre of his imaginative world and a constant source of inspiration in his entire oeuvre.