Easter 1916 - W.B. Yeats
A Poetic Reflection on Revolution, Sacrifice, and Irish Identity
I have met them at close of day
Coming with vivid faces
From counter or desk among grey
Eighteenth-century houses.
I have passed with a nod of the head
Or polite meaningless words,
Or have lingered awhile and said
Polite meaningless words,
And thought before I had done
Of a mocking tale or a gibe
To please a companion
Around the fire at the club,
Being certain that they and I
But lived where motley is worn:
All changed, changed utterly:
A terrible beauty is born.
That woman’s days were spent
In ignorant good-will,
Her nights in argument
Until her voice grew shrill.
What voice more sweet than hers
When, young and beautiful,
She rode to harriers?
This man had kept a school
And rode our wingèd horse;
This other his helper and friend
Was coming into his force;
He might have won fame in the end,
So sensitive his nature seemed,
So daring and sweet his thought.
This other man I had dreamed
A drunken, vainglorious lout.
He had done most bitter wrong
To some who are near my heart,
Yet I number him in the song;
He, too, has resigned his part
In the casual comedy;
He, too, has been changed in his turn,
Transformed utterly:
A terrible beauty is born.
Hearts with one purpose alone
Through summer and winter seem
Enchanted to a stone
To trouble the living stream.
The horse that comes from the road,
The rider, the birds that range
From cloud to tumbling cloud,
Minute by minute they change;
A shadow of cloud on the stream
Changes minute by minute;
A horse-hoof slides on the brim,
And a horse plashes within it;
The long-legged moor-hens dive,
And hens to moor-cocks call;
Minute by minute they live:
The stone’s in the midst of all.
Too long a sacrifice
Can make a stone of the heart.
O when may it suffice?
That is Heaven’s part, our part
To murmur name upon name,
As a mother names her child
When sleep at last has come
On limbs that had run wild.
What is it but nightfall?
No, no, not night but death;
Was it needless death after all?
For England may keep faith
For all that is done and said.
We know their dream; enough
To know they dreamed and are dead;
And what if excess of love
Bewildered them till they died?
I write it out in a verse—
MacDonagh and MacBride
And Connolly and Pearse
Now and in time to be,
Wherever green is worn,
Are changed, changed utterly:
A terrible beauty is born.
W.B. Yeats’s “Easter 1916” is a reflection on the Easter Rising of 1916 in Dublin, where Irish nationalists launched a rebellion against British rule. The poem grapples with how everyday acquaintances, once seen in a trivial light, became heroic figures through their self-sacrifice. Repeatedly, Yeats uses the refrain “A terrible beauty is born” to capture the paradox of an uprising that was both inspiring and tragic.
In the opening stanza, Yeats confesses to having casually interacted with these individuals in mundane settings—he knew them socially but never truly grasped the depth of their convictions. Once they became martyrs, however, they were “transformed utterly” in his mind and in the collective consciousness.
The second stanza vividly portrays specific rebels: a woman who was ardent in her arguments, teachers and intellectuals with poetic leanings, and even someone Yeats initially considered “a drunken, vainglorious lout.” All of these individuals underwent a profound change by participating in or supporting the Rising.
Subsequent lines emphasize the monumental nature of their cause, contrasting the swift, ever-changing flow of life—a horse’s movement, shifting clouds—with the unyielding new reality symbolized by hearts “enchanted to a stone.” The final section of the poem wrestles with sacrifice: was it futile or necessary to awaken Ireland’s national identity? The poem concludes by naming key leaders of the Rising—“MacDonagh and MacBride / And Connolly and Pearse”—and immortalizing their actions as catalysts for national rebirth.
In essence, “Easter 1916” is part historical commemoration, part personal admission of how Yeats’s own views changed. By inscribing their names in verse, Yeats underscores that, for all time, these individuals will stand as symbols of both beauty and terror, signaling the birth of a renewed Irish consciousness. This duality of transformation—inspiring yet wrought with violence—remains at the core of the poem and speaks to the complexities of any revolutionary movement.
Key points
1. Yeats highlights the power of ordinary people to become heroes through profound conviction.
2. The refrain “A terrible beauty is born” underscores the blend of inspiration and sorrow.
3. The poem memorializes key figures of the Easter Rising, linking them to Ireland’s broader identity.
4. Yeats demonstrates how even personal disdain or misunderstanding can shift into respect in the face of ultimate sacrifice.
