B.A. III (optional English) 20 th century English Literature Semester – IV

1. Yeshwantrao Chavan Mahavidyalaya , Tuljapur Dept.- English B.A. III (optional English) 20th century English Literature Semester – IV Name : Prof. D.G. Jadhav

2. Poem: Easter 1916 by W. B. Yeats W. B. Yeats (1865-1939): W.B. Yeats was an Irish poet and one of the foremost figures of 20th –century literature. In 1923, he was awarded by the Nobel Prize in Literature.

3. Poem: Easter 1916Background: Easter 1916 is a poem by W.B. Yeats describing the poet’s torn emotions regarding the events of the Easter Rising staged in Ireland against British rule on Easter Monday April 24, 1916. The uprising was unsuccessful and most of the Irish republic leaders involved were executed for treason. The poem was written in September 1916, but first published in 1921.

4. Summary of the Poem: This poem is about Irish rebellion. Yeats compares the fighters and their unchanging dedication to a rock that sitting at the bottom of a stream. Yeats closes the poem by repeating the phrase “A terrible beauty is born”, which he has mentioned several times in the poem. In this way W.B. Yeats says that 1916 Easter rebellion was memorable and important.