Although the world has evolved in many ways since Yeats existed, his poetry remains important in the modern era. Just by scrolling through social media, flipping through TV channels, or listening to the radio, we are constantly reminded that we live in a chaotic and corrupt world. Through his poetry, Yeats explores the contradictory existence and nature of beauty in this world, both a catalyst and a consequence of conflict. In particular, Yeats explores man's desire for truth and desire for spiritual transcendence. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay In “The Wild Swans of Coole,” Yeats describes his personal desire to transcend the temporal nature of man. This poem was written at a time of great melancholy for Yeats. After being rejected a second time by the woman he loved, he visited an old friend where he observed swans on the lake. Through this poem, Yeats depicts a clear separation between himself and the swans, representing them as "brilliant creatures" whose "hearts have not aged" and who "passion or conquest...always accompany them." This personification depicts the immortality of the swans, who remain young and passionate, juxtaposing Yeats's faded youth. His envy of the swans and his desire for eternal youth are highlighted by the irony that his "heart is sorrowful" rather than full after seeing the beauty of the swans. In the second stanza, Yeats describes how the swans "suddenly ascend and disperse," symbolizing that he cannot control change, just as he cannot control his mortality or resist old age. This suggests Yeats's perspective that beauty is a catalyst for tension, as he recognizes eternal beauty, but due to his mortality he can never attain it. Likewise, Yeats explores man's desire for spiritual transcendence through "The Second Coming." Composed in 1919, the poem was closely influenced by the great political and social changes that followed the First World War, the Russian Revolution and the Irish War of Independence. Yeats illustrates a world where “the hawk cannot hear the falconer,” suggesting through this metaphor that man has turned away and rejected a higher being. He emphasizes the desire for holy revelation through biblical allusions, saying: “A revelation is surely at hand; Surely the Second Coming is near.” But this is not the redemptive “second coming” as we know it. Instead, Yeats ironically describes this revelation as destructive where "darkness falls" and "things fall apart." This reinforces the contradictory nature of beauty, that man can never achieve it because of the destruction of the world, but also because of man's imperfect and mortal nature. Through his poetry, Yeats also explores man's desire for truth and understanding. However, he suggests that absolute truth can never be achieved due to the way the world is changing. But if there is no truth, where are our ideologies and beliefs? This is exactly what Yeats responds to through his poem “Easter 1916”. Written in response to the political and social unrest caused by the Easter Rising, Yeats questions whether it is honorable or foolish to die for one's beliefs. It reflects the paradox of ideologies that create a sense of relative truth while causing conflict as time passes. This is clearly depicted through the motif of change, followed by the phrase "A terrible beauty is born" closing the first,,.