Sunday 18 January 2015

POLITICS BY W.B. YEATS

Wish to be Young Again
     Yeats composed "Politics" in May 24, 1938 when he was 73 years old. In this poem, when he sees a beautiful young girls standing before him, he wishes to be young again. He wishes so because youth is the best period for romance, escapism is always pleasant and he found a new vigour after undergoing the Steinach Operation.
     Firstly, youth is the prime period for romance. The girl standing before the poet is quite young to be his daughter. She needs the excitement of youth which the aged poet lacks. The development of love affair between the aged and the young is almost impossible. Thus to romance with the young girl, the poet wishes to be young again.
     Secondly, the poet is an escapist. In order to avoid the stark realities of life like politics, traveling, war and war's alarms, he wants to flee into his past. His past was full of amour when he used to love Maud Gonne, his childhood beloved. Hence to get pleasure, he wants to escape into his past i.e., his youth.
     Thirdly, after undergoing the Steinach Operation in 1934, when he was aged 69, he found a new machismo in himself. It is evident from both his poetry and his intimate relations with young women. Thus he wants to hold the girl standing before him in his arms. He wants to embrace her. In other words, he wants to be his young lover. 

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