The Architectonics of Form and Content in W. B. Yeats' s "Nineteen Hundred and Nineteen"

Abstract

W. B. Yeats' s poem "Nineteen Hundred and Nineteen" is often regarded as a political poem. Then it becomes a problem. The six-part poem deals with new topics in each part with varied stanzaic forms. It is "random" and "heterogeneous" to those who see it as a political treatment. The present author argues that though it has originated in a political situation in Ireland the poet-speaker has his eyes and heart set toward the stars and man' s heart. The system of the poem is "architectonics" in form, to borrow Vendler' s word or Cezanne' s collector-specialist Barnes'. Though simplified ( deformed) and objectified, the poem' s form and content are structured to an end: a vista of the general history of art and humanity and a definition of humanity. My essay is focused on semantics with the formal principle of architectonics as the basis of the poem.