Patriotism and Civil Disobedience
This poem revolves around Ireland's centuries-long struggle for sovereignty from the British crown, and it speaks highly of those who have patriotically fought for that independence. One of the driving assumptions of this poem is that it is morally good and spiritually or psychologically rewarding to act patriotically, even if those actions violate the law and lead to personal suffering. The patriots of the past, Yeats writes, have died or been exiled while fighting for Irish sovereignty. Meanwhile, contemporary Irish people living under British rule—according to the poem's speaker—have abandoned their patriotism, commitment to civil disobedience, and loyalty to other Irish people, instead choosing the safety and predictability of reigning authorities, whether religious or governmental. While this concession to authority may offer some momentary payoffs, Yeats suggests, it cannot match the extraordinary, ineffable highs and lows of patriotic struggle.
History and Nostalgia
When lamenting the downfall of Irish national pride, Yeats's speaker makes the argument that his fellow Irishmen would in fact mock the national heroes of past centuries. This is, he asserts, in spite of the fact that these men remain respected and revered in modern Ireland. Thus, Yeats not only suggests that his countrymen have become prudish and cynical, but also that individuals' relationships to the past are somehow fundamentally different than their relationships to the present. Merely by virtue of their temporal distance from men like Fitzgerald and the "wild geese," Yeats suggests, Irish people are able to sympathize with them. Yet they dismiss contemporary freedom fighters, despite the similarity between these two groups. Yeats's speaker is irritated by this, suggesting that the gulf between nostalgia for the past and cynicism in the present is unhelpful and irrational, and that the Irish people would benefit from a more generous attitude toward present-day heroes.
Hope and Despair
This poem's speaker is torn between a hopeful and a despairing attitude about the fate of Ireland, intensified by the fact that hope itself appears to be a painful, difficult emotion. The speaker is never especially optimistic, maintaining that Ireland's best fighters are dead and that modern-day Irishmen are blinded by caution and ennui. However, his very anger at his contemporaries is, in a way, an expression of hope. By continuing to remember "Romantic Ireland" and by experiencing frustration with the current state of affairs, the speaker reiterates the importance of Irish freedom and the unacceptability of current injustices. Meanwhile, the seemingly happy, tranquil people of modern Ireland are characterized as deeply despairing: they are able to content themselves with prayer and money only because they have so thoroughly given up hope of future change.
