September 1913

EVERDAY, PRAGMATIC LIFE IS BORING/BAD:

"What need you, being come to sense"

- you = workers, anyone who isn't a romantic/idealist, government for not funding art gallery.

- sounds accusational, aggressive. 

- sense = sibilance - makes it sound more aggressive, bitter and angry. 

- contrasts to "delirium of the brave" - being ironic/ sarcastic or is he saying that having sense is a bad thing. 

- is it sensible to not be idealistic - don't get killed - but he sounds angry with them. 

- scathing, disappointed, bitter, angry.

"But fumble in a greasy till"

- fumble = desperate, implies lack of ambition, drive or passion, sounds clumsy and irratic.

- greasy = disgusting, more pathetic.

"Add the half pence to the pence"

- repitition of pence underlines obsessive materialism, especially because pence is such a small quantity. 

"And prayer to shivering prayer until"

- contrasts to "but little time had they to pray"

- wasting their time - could be doing more important things. 

- wasting of time emphasised by repitition of prayer. 

- shivering makes it sound more pathetic and pointless. 

"You have dried the marrow from the bone?"

- gross image. 

- bone marrow is necessary for living - idealism/ purpose is necessary for living. 

- killed their spark of life - pitious of them. 

- you = accusational. 

- rhetorical question = rallying them, makes it sound more bitter/ angry. 

"For men were born to pray and save"

- mocking - ironic contrast of saving money to saving lives and saving Ireland/ idealism/ romaticism. 

- praying - wasting time again - contrast to idealist having no time to pray.

- men - sarcastic - saying their cowardly and not men - contrast to idealists. 

"And what, God helps us, could they save?"

- nothing has changed, Ireland is still awful - evokes guilt. 

- even they couldn't save anything - sound hopeless. 

"Was it for this the wild geese spread"

- repitition makes it sound more bitter and angry.

- this is obviously bad as it isn't worth their sacrafices - they wanted romanticism and got misery. 

- mocking them and making them feel guilty.

"For this that all that blood was shed"

- tugs on heart strings - vivid euphamism 

"For this this that Edward FItzgerald died, And Robert Emmet and Wolfe Tone"

- tugging on heart string - evoking guilt - especially because they are specifically named. 

- logically we want to be fumblers but in our hearts we want to be idealists. 

Enjambement in first stanza = ranting to his audience. esp. "But fumble.......shivering prayer"

ROMANTIC IRELAND IS POSITIVE/ GOOD:

"Yet they were of a different kind"

- past tense = sounds wistful 

- idealists didn;t…