Module B – Critical Study of Texts (Yeats: Wild Swans at Coole & Among School Children)Q: Great texts take the pain of existence and try to make sense of itSay no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay Yeats's poetry effectively communicates powerful and universal ideas, which continue to make his poetry relevant today. His excellence in artistic expression allows him to interweave his own ideas, philosophies and contextual issues, and allows us, as respondents, to broaden our understanding and perspectives on life. It is true that great texts such as “Wild Swans at Coole” and “Among School Children” take the pain of existence and attempt to make sense of it. Both texts examine in depth the transcendental tensions between life's purpose and the eventual decline of physical and spiritual aging through self-reflection and retrospection. Yates's intense preoccupation with aging is clearly evident in "Wild Swans at Coole." At the time it was written, Yeats was a truly "sore" middle-aged man, truly capable of thinking maturely, seriously and without melodrama, about the passage of time. The poem presents its audience with a sad feeling of loss and change and focuses on Yeats' favorite images, the swan. It is metaphorically obvious that Yeats transforms swans into permanent embodiments of feeling and inspiration. In other words, the transience of life, humans are destined to be born and die. He refuses to be a prisoner of time and reluctantly “rejects” the cycle of life. A feeling of vulnerability surfaces when Yeats realizes the natural, uncontrolled state of the swans and nature itself and that he is unable to take control of it. Relatedly, swans appear eternally young, making them unable to differentiate them while in contrast, aging is evident in humans. “Everything has changed since I first heard on that shore at dusk” when I “walked with a lighter step” refers to Yeats' childlike state with the desperate desire to return . The poet's constant temporal references in stanza 1, in reference to the words "autumn", "October", and "dusk", suggest the arrival of death and decay, the time of life passing and diminishing. These words, in common, evoke the approach and awareness of the end, accentuating the idea of ​​time passing. Additionally, the lack of love in Yeat's life makes the harshness of aging more apparent as the coupled swans, "lover by lover" are paired off, reinforcing the challenges of aging associated with the pain of existence. Like the wild swans, Among School Children embodies Yeats's ongoing struggle between age and transcendence. Being among the schoolboys, Yeats confronts human frailty, reflecting on the impact and value of his life. Frightened by the inevitability of death, he chooses at first to wear a mask of acceptance and reconciliation, while he struggles internally, anguished by the value of life itself. By comparing Maud Gonne's current appearance to her appearance in youth "And I wonder if she was like that at that age", he realizes the impact of time on the physical being. Having finally understood the mortal implications of humanity, Yeats desperately searches for a way to reverse his certain death. He remembers the immense love and relationship he shared with Maud Gonne and metaphorically describes their relationship to an egg "In the yolk and white of a single shell" because they felt like they.