The Theme of Crisis in the Poetry of Yeats and Eliot

Abstract

W. B. Yeats and T. S. Eliot demonstrate the crisis of modern society in their poetry. Both poets were concerned about the disorderly and fragmented social condition of their time – a time of political turmoil, anarchy and chaos. They yearned for the more humane, cultured and promising times of the past, as their contemporary chaotic world endangered peace, happiness, and solidarity of its people. Their poetry presents a gallery of characters, whose ideological conflicts, cultural differences and racial discrimination revealed the crisis of modern society. Both poets deplored the fragmentation of modern society, which once had strong traditions, customs and values. For them, the absence of ethical and religious values gives rise to perennial anguish, disquiet and chaos. However, though both Yeats and Eliot handle the theme of crisis, the ramifications of their treatment are strikingly varied. This paper seeks to explore the theme of crisis as a split in society that they highlight in their poetry by bringing a contrast between some common binaries such as past/present; ideal/corrupt; colonized/colonizer; love/lust; fertility/infertility.