NOTES (Easter, 1916 Poem By William Butler Yeats )

The speaker begins by describing how he used to encounter "them," the men and women he will later identify as the Irish rebels who died during the Easter Rising, at the end of the day. Their faces might reveal some internal agitation or strong emotion, but the speaker first saw them only in the context of ordinary, everyday life, coming home in the evenings from jobs in shops or offices, meeting the speaker on the streets of Dublin outside the grey stone eighteenth-century buildings. The speaker would briefly acknowledge them with a nod and meaningless small talk just to be polite, or stop a short while and make meaningless small talk just to be polite. Even while he was talking to them, he would already be thinking of some way to make fun of them while talking to one of his own friends later at their posh club. The speaker had nothing more serious on his mind than a joke because he thought that they all were just living regular, unimportant lives. Now, though, everything is completely, totally different. Some event has occurred that was highly destructive but also helped bring about profound change.

The speaker then describes individual men and women who participated in the Rising. One woman tried earnestly but misguidedly to accomplish positive change. Her devotion to extreme political positions was reflected in her endless, strident arguing for her side. She used to show a more moderate, engaging personality when she was a young, beautiful woman who spent her time in leisurely pursuits like hunting.One man was a schoolteacher and poet, metaphorically riding the "winged horse" (a symbol of poetic inspiration in Greek mythology);another man was a poet and critic who was helping the first man develop his talent and cultivating his own. This poet might have become famous for his art, given his perceptiveness and his attractive, innovative style. There was another man whom the speaker perceived as an arrogant, good-for-nothing drunkard. This man was abusive towards people the speaker cared for very deeply.But the speaker admits that he must respect and acknowledge even this man. This man left also behind the unimportant activities of everyday life.This man also was completely, totally transformed by his participation in the Rising. This event was highly destructive but also helped bring about profound change.

The speaker suggests that people who, like the rebels, dedicate all their love, energy, and activity to one goal can sometimes start to seem inhuman in their single-minded dedication. Like an unmoving stone in a moving stream, such people can disrupt the flow of ordinary life around them.Almost all things in nature, whether animals, humans, or the weather, are in a state of constant change. Small events, like a cloud passing by above a stream or a horse's hoof slipping into the water, can have major consequences. The natural events of life, like wild birds mating, show that each living thing must adapt every minute for its own survival. But stones simply exist in the same state.

The speaker suggests that people who give up too much of their lives to pursue unchanging goals may lose their ordinary human feelings. He first wonders when all these sacrifices will be enough to achieve the goal, but then decides that it is Heaven, or God's, job to answer that question. The job for him and the rest of the community is simply to remember the dead with seriousness, respect, and love, just as a mother would watch over her sleeping child with gravity and love when the child has finally fallen asleep after running around in a frenzy. The speaker wonders if death may be something temporary and relatively painless, like sleeping through the night before waking up in the morning. He rejects that idea, however, to remind himself and the reader that the rebels are truly dead and will not come back. He next wonders if their deaths may have been unnecessary. Britain might have kept its promise to grant Ireland Home Rule, in spite of the nationalists' mistrust of the British. But again, the speaker decides it is not his or the public's job to answer that question. They don't need to know whether the rebels accomplished their goal; just knowing that they died for the sake of this goal is enough to earn them honor and respect. Still, the speaker cannot help wondering again if their extreme devotion to their goal may have clouded their judgment. But once again, he turns away from that speculation to remember the dead rebels. He lists by name some of the Rising's most important leaders—MacDonagh, MacBride, Connolly, Pearse. He affirms that for the rest of Ireland's existence, whenever the Irish gather to celebrate their country, these rebels will be honored, their identities having been completely transformed from that of ordinary people. The event was highly destructive but also helped bring about profound change.