the attractive girl he loved but failed to marry Yeats had a lifelong passion for Maud Gonne and many of his poems reference her In poems such as A Prayer for My Daughter No Second Troy and Easter he talks about Maud Gonne In most poems we find a blend of passion and censure for his long-loved woman In the poem A Prayer for My Daughter he criticizes Maud Gonne and in the destructive situation he describes his concern for his daughter's future He also prays for his daughter that his daughter should not have extreme beauty like Helen and Maud Gonne and will be married to an aristocratic family Now we realize that the futile nature of beautiful girls is universal and these stupid types of women suffer a lot Patriotic Initiative Yeats is an Irish nationalist poet His sense of nationalism and patriotism is evident in Easter Here the poet pays tribute to the Irish nationalists who gave their lives for the interests of their country Yeats mentions some of his acquaintances among these nationalists It may be that these people have lived a ridiculous and ordinary life before But their sacrifice has given meaning to their lives and as a result a terrible beauty is born The poet says that these people embody the eternal human quality and their stone-like quality can disturb other people's lives Hearts with one purpose alone Through summer and winter seem Enchanted to a stone To trouble the living stream Personal Ideas About History and Civilization Like William Blake Yeats illustrates his ideas about history and civilization The poet has adopted the symbolic word to express himself This is evident in the poem The Second Coming Here the poet describes his knowledge about the decay and destruction of civilization Yeats believes in the cyclical sequence of history that he symbolizes by the image of a 'gyre' Turning and turning in the widening gyre The falcon cannot hear the falconer Things fall apart the centre cannot hold Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world From the above reference it is transparent that the poet talks about his idea of separation and the idea of disintegration is undoubtedly personal like that of Blake The Conflict Between Physicality and Spirituality Although Yeats's early poems were based on love affection nationalism and patriotism he reunited with these elements and life in his mature years In the poem Sailing to Byzantium he discusses the conflict between physicality and spirituality Older people are excluded from physical pleasure like A tattered coat upon a stick Yet they have a unique ability to penetrate the soul This is why the poet travels to the holy Byzantium a symbol of spiritual practice Feelings of romantic sadness pervade this poem and many more poems Now that my ladder s gone I must lie down where all the ladder starts In the foul rag and bone shop of the heart These lines are subtle expressions of Yeats' concept of poetry stemming from his personal experiences and passions like John Keats who is the youngest influential romantic poet in the history of English literature and famous for his innovative style which is ideality versus reality In the concluding remarks it can be said that Yeats draws his subject from his personal life In his poems he has his ideas about life and society He relates his ideas and concepts about love youth age death etc However he presents his personal feelings so that they also touch the readers Although his poetry contains autobiographical elements its appeal is universal