"No Second Troy" by W. B. Yeats: An Analysis
W. B. Yeats in his poem, "No Second Troy" shares his tension about the critical future of his land and people under the influence of the Irish revolution against the British rulers. The poem also reveals the poet's lamentation for being rejected by his beloved Maud Gonne. Maud Goone being inspired by the Irish revolution became a stern revolutionary and finally married an Irish revolutionary John MacBride who had participated in the 1916 Easter Rising and became a martyr.
Yeats asserts that he does not blame Maud Gonne for filling his life with misery and inspiring the Irish common mass ('ignorant men') the 'most violent ways'. He asks "Had they but courage equal to desire?"
Yeats compares the beauty of Maud Gonne as 'tightened bow' to suggest her heroic beauty, simplicity, and her fire-like stern passion. He thinks this is not 'natural'. In this regard, he refers to the Trojan War and the heroic beauty of Helen as its cause. He ends his poem with the question, "Was there another Troy for her to burn?"
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