Essays out for collection Discussion Topics Does art do anything, or is it merely decorative? Is poetry anything more that just, what WH Auden called “a wonderful game’? How might art and poetry be important? Read the foreword to the review of the value of arts in society from the Arts Council to help. Essays out for collection

‘The Fisherman’ Written 1916 “the beating down of the wise, And great Art beaten down” Find 5 other quotations from across the anthology that have a similar message These lines are at the heart of Yeats’ poem ‘The Fisherman’. Create a mind map of interpretations. What will the poem be about? What connotations do the words hold? What are Yeats’ concerns here? What historical contexts are relevant to this quote?

Yeats was highly concerned with the value of art and poetry. His poems move from the earlier Celtic Twilight style to a poetry which was more focused on the real human world and engaged with social concerns of his time. Celtic Twilight: The geographical setting of the woodland (away from the modern world) The temporal setting of the in-between time of twilight The figure of the lonely poet lamenting loss The magical, mysterious, symbolic creatures

The Literary Landscape Highlight 5 key contextual pieces of information Choose 3 to relate to any of the poems we have studied so far Use one to write a short response to the below question: What were Yeats’ key concerns at the turn of the century?

Listen to the Poem http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poem/2527 Can you sum up the poem ‘in a nutshell’? What is literally being described?

“Crunching the Poem” Read the poem again Reduce each line of the poem to one word (it can be an emotion/feeling/mood/tone/ action) Highlight 5 key lines which demonstrate Yeats’ anger and bitterness. Why is Yeats angry and how does he convey this? Identify an area of hope in the poem – what is Yeats’ message? How does the Fisherman epitomise Yeats’ ideal audience?

Variety of Interpretations Match the below interpretations to a line in the poem – where is each idea most strongly conveyed? ‘Yeats is searching for an audience adequate to their own high style’ ‘Yeats desires a wholly new kind of audience’ ‘Yeats turns his back on ‘the reality’ of an Irish literary scene ‘The Fisherman’ is about the process of imagination and writing

Review: Mary M Colum, The Later Yeats How far do you agree with the below critical statement about Yeats’ later work when it comes to ‘The Fisherman’? Mary M Colum, The Later Yeats

Homework Reminder: Complete table Thursday Extension: Watch the video tutorial on ‘The Fisherman’ and develop your annotations / own interpretations.

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