About Easter 1916:

In the Easter of 1916, the Irish made an uprising against the British. The
British promised them freedom, but when World War I broke out, they
postponed this freedom to when it ended. The Irish upheaved against this.
And it is in reference to this upheaval that this poem was written. It was
published in the year 1921, when the memories of this revolution was still
fresh in the minds of the people.

Setting of Easter 1916:

The setting of the poem is probably in Dublin, the capital of Ireland.

Poetic Devices in Easter 1916:

Rhyme:

There are some inconsistencies but for the most part the poem has a rhyme
scheme of ABAB for successive four lines. The inconsistencies in the rhyme
scheme goes to show the attitude of the poet towards the content in those four
lines where the inconsistencies occur.

Alliteration:

There is some alliteration in the poem. ‘Casual comedy’ in paragraph 2 is an

example.

Synecdoche:

Synecdoche is using a part to refer to the whole. ‘Hearts’ in paragraph 3 and

‘limbs’ in paragraph 4 are examples of synecdoche. They both refer to the
bodies of the revolutionaries as a whole.

Imagery:

There is much imagery in the paragraph 3 of the poem. Horses, riders, clouds,
moor-hens with long legs; they are all part of the imagery used.

Symbol:

The winged horse reference to paragraph 2 is a symbol for a poet. This is

according to Greek myth.
Metaphor:

There is some metaphor when the speaker speaks of stones. The stones here
may refer to the hearts of the revolutionaries, unmoving and unchanging but
at the end of the paragraph, stones may refer to the legacies the
revolutionaries leave behind, which remain constant through the flow of time.

Foreshadowing:

There is foreshadowing towards the ending of the first paragraph. ‘All

changed, changed utterly’; this sentence speaks of the content to be expected
in the coming part of poem.

Summary of Easter 1916:

The speaker of the poem starts by speaking of routine and mundane life. He is
detached from his fellow acquaintances and only speaks to them because he
has to. He thought about how he could please his companions at the club and
that was all. But this silly and meaningless life was about to change soon.

The speaker then dives right into the upheaval by speaking of the main people
who took part in it. He speaks of a beautiful woman grown hoarse by the
politics, of a school founder, of a budding poet and dramatist who lost his life
before he could gain fame in the literary side, and of a ‘lout’ who changed in
the revolutionary for better.

They all lost their lives for one purpose only; freedom of the Irish. They
strongly believed in it and their convictions couldn’t be changed or moved.
While everything was changing in this world, their determination remained
constant and so their legacies will be remembered for long, long time.

The speaker then wonders if the revolution was really necessary; if so many
sacrifices, so many deaths could only be prevented if only they had waited a
little longer, for the English might have kept their word in granting their
freedom. He does not know this but what he knows is that they all have
dreamt of a dream and they died while trying to achieve it. And for this they
will be remembered by the people and hence, a ‘terrible beauty’, a history of
bloody upheaval full of dreams was born.

Analysis of Easter 1916:

The speaker of the poem starts by saying he met them at the end of the day.
‘They’ here refers to workers, specifically those who worked behind counters
or desks. The speaker says their lives are mundane by using the word ‘grey’ in
association with their workplaces. He passes these men with a nod of the head
or with some polite meaningless words. This shows the speaker’s detachment
from them. This also shows that the speaker feels a sort of superiority over
them. He did not give much mind to these passing acquaintances and this is
seen in his repetition of ‘polite meaningless words’. And even before he’s done
talking these ‘polite meaningless words’, he wou;d have thought of a tale that
would please his companion in his club. This further enforces the idea that the
speaker indeed does not mind those people. The speaker was certain that he
and they all lived where ‘motley’ is worn. ‘Motley’ is the multi-coloured
costume of a jester. This motley is meaningless and silly to adults. By saying
that they lived where ‘motley is worn’, the speaker implies that they were all
living a silly and meaningless life. But then everything changed. The repetition
of the word ‘change’ goes to show how great a change it was. This is a
foreshadowing of things to come in the next part of the poem. Till now, the
speaker speaks of a mundane life. We can expect something interesting or
exciting to come next. ‘A terrible beauty is born.’ Now this is an oxymoron.
Beauty is something that is meant to be soothing, nice and good. But it is
described as terrible. So we can expect things which were beautiful in
meaning but terrible in nature.

Now going by the background of the poem, the circumstances in which it was
written, we can deduce that the speaker speaks of the revolutionaries who
were part of the Uprising in this next paragraph.

The speaker first speaks of a woman who spent her days in ignorant good will.
From research it is found that this woman is one Countess Constance
Markievicz. She was one of the main people behind the uprising and when it
was over she was sentenced to death, but later that was changed to a life
sentence. The speaker goes on to say that the Countess spent her nights in
arguments, possibly over political issues, and in course, her voice grew shrill.
The speaker is not exactly approving of the woman’s actions. She was young,
beautiful with a sweet voice, in the days she rode to harriers. ‘Rode to
harriers’ here means riding on a horseback for hunting. It implies that the
woman was rich and carefree before she dived into politics.

The speaker then speaks of a man who had kept a school. This man was one
Padraic Pearse, a leader of the Uprising. He was a founder of a boys’ school in
Dublin. He says he rode a winged horse. Now a winged horse is symbol for a
poet in Greek myth. The ‘winged horse’ mentioned in this line is the man the
speaker speaks of next.

That man was a friend and helper to Pearse, and he was getting into his
groove. He had a sensitive nature, and daring and sweet thoughts; all which
are the making of an excellent poet. And who knows; he might have become
famous had he just stayed out of the uprising and continued on with his
poems. The man in question is Thomas MacDonagh, a poet and dramatist. As
can be deduced from the framing of the verse, MacDonagh was executed for
taking part in the uprising.

The speaker next speaks of a drunken, vainglorious lout. These are the
strongest words that the speaker had used throughout the poem. It shows that
the speaker felt strongly towards this person. The person here is Major John
MacBride. And he married Maud Gonne, a woman dear to Years, and
divorced her later. And though strong were his feelings for MacBride in the
negative sense, he still put him in this poem. This shows that the speaker
found in him to respect MacBride a little for his role in the uprising, despite
his personal qualities. MacBride is said to have ‘resigned his role’, implying
that he died, in the ‘casual comedy’. The use of ‘casual comedy’ to describe
the uprising goes to show what exactly the speaker thinks of the uprising. The
man, MacBride had transformed utterly in the uprising and hence, ‘a terrible
beauty is born.’

The sentence ‘A terrible beauty is born’ refers to the history made by these
people. Bloody though it was, requiring a number of sacrifices, it was still
beautiful in the sense that they fought for what they believed in and gave their
lives for that cause.

This aspect of them is discussed in the next paragraph. The speaker speaks of
their hearts with one purpose alone, that of freeing the Irish from the British
rule. It is compared to a stone, constant, unmoving and unchanging, in the
flow of life, constant throughout the seasons. The speaker then speaks of all
the things that do change with time. He uses imagery to do so. He speaks of
the horse that comes down the road, of its riders, the birds that fly above, the
shadow of a cloud on a stream; they all change by the minute. Then he speaks
of animals which live by the minute, the horse and the moor-hens specifically;
unconcerned of the future and not haunted by the past. And among all these
constantly changing things lies the stone, the heart of the revolutionaries,
unchanged and unmoved. The speaker praises this conviction of the
revolutionaries, though grudgingly.

The speaker says that a sacrifice that is too long can turn a heart into a stone.
This can either mean that the heart turns into something cold and unfeeling,
or it can mean that the heart is further strengthened in its conviction and
determination. It is probably the latter. Only the heavens know when this long
sacrifice gets over. Meanwhile, the part of the humans is to murmur name
upon name, probably of the dead. ‘When sleep has come at last’ confirms the
idea that the names are of the dead. ‘On limbs that had run wild’ means the
revolutionaries who fought in the uprising. This is a synecdoche right here,
where the limbs refer to the whole body. The speaker then muses on the death
of these revolutionaries. Was it needless death after all? He asks. This is a
rhetorical question. Who knows, the England may have kept faith (England
promised freedom to Ireland but then the World War came and they
postponed the freedom to when it ends). But the speaker acknowledges their
dream and determination. But here too are negative vibes: they dreamed and
they are dead. The speaker asks if the revolutionaries had not excess love
towards their country, and if this excess blinded them and confused them.
This is again rhetorical.

‘I write it all out in a verse’; the speaker writes all his thoughts out in this
poem. And then he mentions the four names which he alluded to in the second
paragraph. These people weren’t what they were before the revolution now.
From now on and for the time to come, they will be remembered as something
different, ‘wherever green is worn’ (Green is the national colour of Ireland).
The speaker ends the poem by again saying that a terrible beauty is born.

The speaker is conflicted in his opinion of the uprising and of the people who
took part in it. He is both reprimanding and grudgingly approving, if not of
the uprising but of the people’s convictions and determination in it.

Central Idea of Easter 1916:

The central idea of the poet while writing the poem is to put out all his
thoughts, opinions and impressions of the upheaval in the Easter of 1916.

Tone of Easter 1916:

The tone of the poem is disinterested at the beginning. But when it starts to
speak of the upheaval, it becomes conflicting. It is at times disapproving while
at other times, grudgingly acknowledging.
Conclusion
W B Yeats puts out his thoughts and opinions on the upheaval of 1916, and
captures a pretty good portrait of the people and their changes during this
particular upheaval.