September 1913

September 1913

By William Butler Yeats

September 1913 focuses on the state of the Irish nation in its pre-war era. The poem itself is a satirical criticism of the stagnant nature of Ireland. The title itself refers to a strike that occurred during that month and year, a strike that served only to hurt the economy of Ireland. The poem starts with a descriptive and vivid criticism of the dead-like state of the Irish people. Yeats progresses by referring back to the Irish heroes, now long dead, who created a “romantic” aspect to the Irish Revolutionary Movement. He creates a sort of ode to the heroes, and elevates them to a status of martyrs and God-like figures. The poem ends with Yeats allusion to the loneliness that the death of romanticism has created, and the slow stagnant death this will cause. The poem ends with Yeats discussion of the death of O’Leary, Ireland’s great hero, and the fact that he now lies deep in his grave, unable to linger in this new counter-progressive Ireland.

The main theme of the poem is the stagnant nature of Ireland and the death of its romantic aspect. Yeats focuses on the conditional aspect of this theme, for it is the most critical aspect needed for him at the moment in the history of Ireland. The economic and social stagnation of the nation is something he takes personally to heart, and thus contemplates on the future of his beloved homeland. The death image he keeps attempting to debate is what the contemporary opinion of the intelligentsia is during the pre-rebellion Ireland. Thus he tries to use indirect sarcasm (in the form of metaphors) to heavily satirize the contemporary thoughts on Irish Independence.

The main motifs of the story are those that relate to death, stagnation, and the