In his early writings, William Butler Yeats evoked a legendary and supernatural Ireland, more pagan than Christian. He hoped to instill pride in the Irish past and support Irish nationalism. He later became isolated from the nationalist movement and celebrated an aristocratic Ireland in work marked by a more concrete and colloquial style.
Yeats had a cyclic view of history, as evidenced in the line âTurning and turning in the widening gyreâ in his poem âThe Second Coming.â He used recurring images in his poetry, including Leda and the Swan; Helen and the burning of Troy; the Tower in its many forms; the sun and moon; the burning house; cave, thorn tree, and well; eagle, heron, sea gull, and hawk; blind man, lame man, and beggar; unicorn and phoenix; and horse, hound, and boar.