Yeats’ Ambivalence Towards Irish Nationalism in “September 1913” and “Easter 1916”

William Butler Yeats, who is accepted both in English and Irish Canons, is one of the outstanding figures of the twentieth century literature. His differing ideas on various subjects have always attracted the attention of the readers of his time and today. One of the themes that has great influence on his poetry is Irish nationalism. However, there have always been contradictory ideas about the understanding of Yeats’ nationalism. While some people regard him as the greatest poet of his country, he is labelled as a British supporter by the others. One of the reasons is his Anglo-Irish origin; Yeats has always been close to both sides. In addition to this, Yeats describes his nationalism as an intellectual act rather than political. Therefore, he has always been against the use of violence in Irish nationalism. The aim of this paper is to depict Yeats’ reflection of ambivalence towards Irish nationalism in “September 1913” and “Easter 1916”.