Tradition

One of the main themes during these poems is tradition. This occurs in more than one way. The author makes extensive use of forms and techniques that have been developed for poetic verse for centuries. At least some of these have had their origin in the oral tradition. For this reason, the forms themselves and the use of them is an act of preserving the tradition through using it and thereby, the tradition remains alive. Poetic rhyme and meter are not the only way that William Butler Yeats furthers tradition in his poetry.

He protects and fosters the history of Ireland. The island nation has its own culture. At least, it did. Here, the author acts as a cultural savior to his own people whenever he dares to write of the history of Ireland. His recurrent references to Kings and to Druids across a multitude of his poems...