Easter, 1916 Essay Questions

How does the speaker show his ambivalent attitude towards the nationalist rebels?

At the beginning of the poem, the speaker admits that he knew many of the rebels before the Easter Rising (he shared "polite meaningless words" with them) but that he did not take them seriously ("And thought before I had done/Of a mocking tale or a gibe"). In the second stanza, he admits that he had serious personal grievances against some of them: "He had done most bitter wrong/To some who are near my heart." Yet even this "drunken, vainglorious lout" has been changed by the events of the Easter Rising. The effects caused by this event are more important than the individual faults of the people who were involved in it. Therefore, though the speaker does not idealize these people, he respects what their sacrifice means.

What is the significance of the lines "All changed, changed utterly:/A terrible beauty is born" in the context of the poem?

The lines "All changed, changed utterly:/A terrible beauty is born" are among Yeats's most famous verses. In the context of the poem, they refer to the effects of the Easter Rising. This rebellion for an independent Ireland has transformed the course of history. However, it has not only transformed it for good. The results are beautiful, but this "beauty" is also "terrible."

What does the stone symbolize in the poem?

The stone symbolizes the steadfast commitment of the revolutionary. A stone appears unmoving and unchanging. Similarly, the heart of a revolutionary neither bends nor changes. The poem describes this form of consistency as unnatural or inhuman. If the "stream" symbolizes the constant movement of nature, the stone "trouble[s] the stream" and upsets the balance of nature.

What is the significance of the questions and repetitions in the fourth stanza?

The questions and repetitions in the final stanza show the speaker's ambivalent relationship to the Easter Rising and its principal participants. He first asks "O when may it suffice?" This question shows that the speaker is uncomfortable with the heavy sacrifice imposed on the rebels: they die for the sake of their cause. He wonders when and if this will be enough to actually create the change they want. The second question suggests that the death of the rebels may be able to be compared to sleep or night: "What is it but nightfall?" However, the next line rejects this softening of these violent executions by repeating the word "no": "No, no not night but death." The third question is: "Was it needless death after all?" Here the speaker wonders whether Ireland would have been granted independence even without the violent uprising.

Why does the speaker name the fallen nationalist rebels in the poem?

The speaker argues that only heaven knows when the sacrifices made by the rebels will be enough to change history: "That is heaven's part." In contrast, "our part," as mortals, is to keep alive the names of the dead. He compares this recitation of the names to a mother "murmur[ing]" the name of her child as she lulls it to sleep. Similarly, the speaker declares that he will include the names of the rebels to lovingly immortalize them: "I write it out in a verse/MacDonagh and MacBride/And Connolly and Pearse."