"Easter 1916" Stanza 4 Coding

Too long a sacrifice
Can make a stone of the heart.
O when may it suffice?
That is Heaven's part, our part
To Murmur name upon name,
As a mother names her child.
When sleep at last has come
On limbs that had run wild.
What is it but nightfall?
No, no, not night but death;
Was it needless death after all?
For England may keep faith
For all that is done and said.
We know their dream; enough
To know they dreamed and are dead;
And what if excess of love
Bewildered them till they died?
I write it out in a verse -
MacDonagh and MacBride
And Connolly and Pearse
Now and in time to be,
Wherever green is worn,
Are changed, changed utterly:
A terrible beauty is born.

Rhyming Words
Choice of Words
Questions
References to Death
Repeated Concepts

(One word split into two colors means that it represents more than one of the things above)


The 4th stanza of W.B. Yeat's poem Easter 1916 describes the unsuccessful and bloody uprising in Ireland
of the Irish people against British rule and years of colonization by England. The Irish revolutionaries that were involved in the uprising for independence were swiftly accused of treason and brutally executed as traitors against the British crown in April 1916.  The execution of these Irish patriots shocked and saddened both Yeats and the Irish people.  Yeats questions the death of those patriots repeatedly in the stanza, as stated in line 10. "No, no, not night but death; Was it needless death after all?"  This poem reflects Yeats' thoughts and feelings regarding the death and sacrifice of so many.  As stated in line 12, "For England may keep faith for all that is done and said. We know their dream; enough to know they dreamed and are dead."  Throughout the 4th stanza, though he knows that nothing can change their deaths, he questions the purpose of the sacrifice and the emotional and physical cost for those fighting for their freedom.  In the 4th stanza he also states that it will be heaven's role to determine when the bloodshed and death will end while it is the duty of those left behind to continue the fight for freedom, never forgetting the names and sacrifices made by those who gave their lives for Irish independence.  The final seven lines in this stanza is a personal tribute to those who sacrificed their lives for Ireland. To lay their spirits to rest, "As a mother names her child when sleep has finally come."  To also remember the dreams and ambitions of the revolutionaries and to carry on their cause, never forgetting their names or their purpose.