Poem Politics (W. B. Yeats) Summary Imp Qs Ref Explanation

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Poem:

How can I, that girl standing there,
My attention fix
On Roman or on Russian
Or on Spanish politics,

Yet here’s a travelled man that knows
What he talks about,
And there’s a politician
That has both read and thought,
And maybe what they say is true
Of war and war’s alarms,

But O that I were young again
And held her in my arms.

Introduction

It is a very sweet poem about the sweetest aspect of life, i.e., love. This is an age of high-politics but the poet wishes to love a girl in-spite of all the political discussion going all around him. Youth and love are the cream of life and the world of politics becomes dim before these.

Summary

The poet sees a girl standing at a little distance from him. He is for the time being, busy in discussion about the world-politics. But he is unable to fix his attention towards that discussion in the present of that girl. He cannot pay full attention towards Roman, Russian or Spanish politics. He is listening to a widely travelled fellow who is talking about his own personal experiences. He is also listening to a politician who has read and thought much about human welfare. All that they are talking about war and war dangers may be true. Yet the poet is not at all serious about that. He is lost in the idea of the girl. He wishes to be young again and love that girl. He wishes to embrace her. Love is more powerful than politics for him.

Important Questions

Questions No 1. "Yeats contrasts the reality of politics with the reality of love" _ discuss with reference to "Politics".

Ans. Yeats contrasts the reality of politics with the reality of love in his poem "Politics". On one side there are a young girl standing. On the other side there is a much travelled man and a politician. The traveller has seen the world with his own eyes and has got first hand practical knowledge about that. On the other hand, the politician is a theoretical fellow. He has read and thought much. Both of them (the traveller and the politician) are telling the poet about the political situation of the world at present and about the dangers of war. The poet does not take much interest in that dull discussion. He wishes to become young again so that he may love and embrace the girl standing at a side and leave the petty politics of the world altogether. The poet thus prefers "love" to "politics".

Question No 2. Critically evaluate "Politics" by W. B. Yeats. Or Write the critical appreciation of the poem.

Ans. This is a very sweet poem about a very sweet aspect of life: love. It tells us about the importance of love in human life and also about the un-importance of politics. The poet presents before us a very important issue and gives his own decision as well. The world politics is supposed to be a very important item for human consideration but the poet is not ready to give it as much importance. According to him there is a contrast between the reality of love and the reality of politics. The reality of love, according him, is more important than the reality of politics and political dangers.

The subject matter of the poem is deeply linked with human love. It tells us about politics, too. It is a social verse. The poet is bored of the talk of politics and wars and attends to a girl standing at a little distance away from him. He wishes to be young again and to embrace that young girl with full love, leaving away all the petty world politics and war-dangers.

The poet has put the subject-matter for our consideration in a very sincere and ingenuous way. The way of presentation is most modern and precise. There are no useless details and side-tracks in the poem. It is epigrammatic in style like good Latin and Greek classical poetry. It is, infact, a sweet lyric composed in iambic feet but with a lot of variation. We note that lines no. 9 and 11 are in iambic tetrameter and 10 and 12 have iambic trimeter as their rhythm. The rhyme scheme of the stanzas is a b c b with three stanzas of 4 lines each.

Many words of the poem are monosyllabic. Some of the lines are totally composed of such words, such as:

That has read and thought, (line 8)

Of war and war's alarms, (line 9)

and And held her in my arms. (line 12)

The last two lines are the most forceful and leave a lasting impression on us. This is really a sweet and loveable poem.

Question No 3. How does the poet distinguish between the "travelled man" and the "politician"?

Ans. The "travelled man", according to eh poet, is one

.... that knows

What he talks about,

i. e., he has got first hand experience of life. On the other hand, the politician is the man.

That has read and thought,

i. e., he has got theoretical and not practical knowledge.

Question No 4. Why does the poet wish to be young again?

Ans. The poet wishes to be young again so that he can have full sentiments of love for the girl standing at a little distance and can embrace her with love, leaving all the petty politics and war alarms aside!

Reference, Context and Explanation:

Lines 1-4: How can I ... politics?

How can I, that girl standing there,
My attention fix
On Roman or on Russian
Or on Spanish politics,

Reference:

These lines have been taken from the poem "Politics" written by W. B. Yeats.

Context:

This is a sweet little poem that tells us about the importance of love over politics and war. The poet wishes to leave the discussion of politics and war in order to go to the girl standing at a distance and love her.

Explanation:

The poet tells us in these lines that he cannot fix his attention on the political situation of a country such as Russia or Rome or Spain because there is a girl standing nearby and she is more charming that the petty world-politics.

Lines 5-10: Yet there's ... war's alarms.

Yet here’s a travelled man that knows
What he talks about,
And there’s a politician
That has both read and thought,
And maybe what they say is true
Of war and war’s alarms,

Reference:

These lines have been taken from the poem "Politics" written by W. B. Yeats.

Context:

Explanation:

The poet tells us in these lines about a traveller who has seen a large number of countries and knows much about the world. Such a traveller is talking with the poet. The poet is also listening to the political discussion of a politician who has read and thought well. There is a discussion going on about war and war's danger and the poet knows that whatever the politician is telling them may be correct.

Lines 11-12: But O ... my arms!

But O that I were young again
And held her in my arms.

Reference:

These lines have been taken from the poem "Politics" written by W. B. Yeats.

Context:

Explanation:

The poet tells us that he wishes to be young again so that he may be able to leave all the politics and embrace the girl standing at a little distance and enjoy the blessings of love!

Poem Politics (W. B. Yeats) Summary Imp Qs Ref Explanation