William Butler Yeats

Death

Death - meaning Summary

Dread and Hope Together

Yeats contrasts a dying animal, untroubled, with human beings who meet death with simultaneous dread and hope. The poem suggests humans repeatedly "die" and are reborn through fear, pride, and moral confrontation. A celebrated or resolute person can face killers with derision, yet still understands death deeply. The closing claim, that "Man has created death," frames mortality as a human-made concept shaped by belief and experience.

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Nor dread nor hope attend A dying animal; A man awaits his end Dreading and hoping all; Many times he died, Many times rose again. A great man in his pride Confronting murderous men Casts derision upon Supersession of breath; He knows death to the bone - Man has created death.

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