No Second Troy

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1916

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Background

Poem Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Further Reading & Resources

Related Poems

“Ozymandias” by Percy Bysshe Shelley (1818)

One of Yeats’s first major influences, Percy Bysshe Shelley wrote on many ancient subjects. While Yeats’s poem emphasizes the fall of Troy, Shelley’s reflects on the emptiness and ephemerality of all earthly achievements.

“Ulysses” by Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1842)

Alfred, Lord Tennyson is one of the most prominent poets of the Victorian era. Like Yeats’s “No Second Troy,” “Ulysses” uses ancient Greek stories as a vehicle for the author to explore personal difficulties. Tennyson’s poem is named after the Latin name for the ancient Greek hero Odysseus, who fought during the Trojan War. Tennyson wrote “Ulysses” shortly after the death of his friend Arthur Henry Hallam, and the poem conveys Tennyson’s loss through the voice of its speaker.

“A Man Young and Old” by William Butler Yeats (1928)

Yeats was constantly experimenting with new forms of poetry, and many of his most experimental works appeared later in his life. “A Man Young and Old” is one of Yeats’s final returns to his relationship with Maud Gonne. Yeats’s poetry rarely names Helen of Troy directly, but the connection between Maud and “[s]he who had brought great Hector down / And put all Troy to wreck” (Lines 79-80) remains consistent throughout Yeats’s work.

“In Memory of W. B. Yeats” by W. H. Auden (1939)

W. H. Auden’s poem “In Memory of W. B. Yeats” underlines Yeats’s influence on 20th-centry poetry. Auden’s work captures many of Yeats’s characteristic qualities between its three parts. The first part evokes a similar searching tone to “No Second Troy,” while the formal rigidity of the third part calls forth Yeats’s earliest poetry.

Further Literary Resources

“The Later Yeats” by Ezra Pound (1914)

Ezra Pound spearheaded the Modernist poetic movement with his call for novelty in both form and subject. Pound was also a lifelong advocate for the importance of Yeats’s work. This article, in which Pound singles out “No Second Troy” as evidence that Yeats is still an innovative figure, positions Yeats as both a progenitor and contributor to Modernist aesthetics.

“Yeats, W.B. and Postcolonialism” by Elizabeth Brewer (2000)

Though Yeats’s language and continental-European imagery draws from sources outside of Ireland, critics like Edward Said and Gayatri Spivak have worked on repositioning Yeats’s work as a project of decolonization. By placing Yeats in the context of Postcolonial literature, or literature from nations affected by colonialism, these critics struggle with the poet’s English ancestry and Irish nationality. This article by Elizabeth Brewer outlines the early decades of postcolonial theory and how theorists applied it to Yeats.

“WB Yeats turns 150: The 20th Century’s greatest poet?” by Jane Ciabattari (2015)

Jane Ciabattari’s article for BBC Culture explores Yeats’s enduring influence on English poetry by comparing his relevance to that of William Shakespeare. Ciabattari establishes this influence by highlighting pivotal works of literature and cultural production that borrow from Yeats, and by drawing a line from Yeats to contemporary poetics.

“The many faces of Helen of Troy” by Natalie Haynes (2019)

Helen of Troy is one of the most important characters in the Western literary canon (See: Symbols & Motifs). Yeats blends his idiosyncratic allusions to Helen with his relationship with Maud Gonne. In her overview of the British Museum’s exhibition, Troy: Myth and Reality, classicist Natalie Haynes discusses Helen’s lasting presence in the Western imagination.

Listen to Poem

Jordan Harling reads “No Second Troy” by William Butler Yeats

Jordan Harling’s reading of “No Second Troy” captures the poem’s searching, questioning tone without exaggerating the speaker’s inflection. Harling also demonstrates how to read through enjambment lines, and how their appearance on the page can complicate their meaning.