Explore the methods Yeats uses to express his feelings of anger and disillusionment in the poem 'September 1913'
Refer to language, structure and form.

Yeats, the poet of 'September 1913' wrote this poem to express his feelings of anger and disillusionment by using different literary techniques and by suing form and structure to present a serious and cynical poem. The poem aims to present Yeats' views on modern Ireland and how Ireland was becoming lost in a materialistic society it was shaping into. Yeats was an advocate for promoting Irish cultural nationalism, which he thought needed to retrieved as Ireland was under British rule at the time and key elements of Irish culture was being lost.

[Language] In the poem 'September 1913' there are many language devices used, to show Yeats' feelings of anger and disillusionment. One technique used is a metaphor, where Yeats expresses his anger and bitterness of the modern, materialistic Ireland. This is shown when an image of people "fumbling" in a "greasy till" is portrayed. This is Yeats expressing his anger about the self-absorbed and greedy employers of Ireland who did not care for the peasantry (working class) of Ireland at the time and abused their rights.

Furthermore, in the first stanza, Yeats addresses the audience directly by pointing the finger at those around him who are only interested in themselves: "what you need" who "save and pray". This presents Yeats' frustration with those who earn a living and pray just to fulfil the desire to look after themselves, which shows their hypocrisy, because if you are praying, surely you should be pious and follow the loving teachings of Jesus, but instead these self-absorbed, greedy employers only thought about themselves whilst abusing their fellow 'brothers'. The Dublin lock out was a prime example of workers being abused as they were being stopped from unionising to protect themselves. This increased Yeats' anger as 20,000 workers had to go on strike to receive their basic rights due to the inequality in the work place.

Also, Yeats uses sensory imagery: "You have dried the marrow from the bone". This emphasises on the fact that the employers are very self-interested which shows the materialistic individuals Ireland contains, which show the cheapening of contemporary Ireland. This presents the employers to be almost leech like beings as they rob the poor (lower classes) and leave them with hardly everything. Additionally, Yeats uses monosyllabic words which added energy and directness to Yeats’ anger and disillusionment.
[Structure] In addition, Yeats uses a tight form of eight syllables lines and alternative rhyming lines. Usually, ten syllable lines is used in British poems, but due to the fact of Yeats using eight syllable lines add more abruptness and intensity. From this, we can see anger and disillusionment in the poem. Yeats does this by comparing the common contemporary culture of Ireland that could have been, which he showed through the embodiment of revolutionaries, such as, Edward Fitzgerald, Robert Emmet, Wolfe Tone and O’Leary. By criticising modern Ireland he was trying to emphasise the corruptness that had taken over. This helped him present his frustration with and anger of the new Ireland.
[Verse Form] Furthermore, the poem has a song like rhythm to it. This is because Yeats knew that most of th irish population was illiterate one-third of the population lived in poetry. This helped Yeats to convey his message of presenting his anger of modern Ireland as he appealed to the widespread population of Ireland as it has a song like rhythm.
In conclusion, Yeats expresses his feeling of anger and disillusionment in the poem ‘September 1913’ through literary techniques, a intense eight syllable lined poem and a song like poem.